By 
Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, sagging in the polls, lost a golden opportunity Wednesday night to come out at least a partial winner in his third nationally televised debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when he quipped in the last minute of their 90-minute event:"I'm not sure I can accept the decision" of the voters Nov. 8 if he loses the election. "I want to keep you in suspense, okay?" he quipped to moderator Chris Wallace of the Fox Network.
"I will look at it at the time," he said. "I'm not looking at anything now. I will look at it at the time. What I've seen is so bad."
The remark momentarily startled the audience at the University of Nevada auditorium in Las Vegas, NV. Wallace had asked the question.
Such a comment is unprecedented in American political history. Never before has a presidential candidate sought to discredit the results of an election -- before it took place.
Trump obviously senses he is going to be whipped badly Nov. 8. He has been whining for the past several months about a "rigged" election by the Democrats.
"They are going to steal it from us," he told a recent rally of supporters. "They are going to steal it from you and we cannot let that happen."
He never said what he and his followers should or would do to prevent such a "rigged" election.
However, two weeks ago, he told an estimated television audience of 70 million viewers, he would "absolutely" accept whatever verdict surfaced from the vote.
Trump obviously is setting himself up for another commercial endeavor after the election - possibly the purchase or establishment of a cable television station.
That would allow him and his followers to continue harassing the Clinton administration and the Republican Party as well.
One thing for sure: Trump is not going to leave the American political stage a loser Nov. 8 without a spectacular exit. That is his style. He loves himself too much not to treat himself in such a grand Hollywood style.
Clinton clearly won this third debate, outclassing Trump almost from the start, even though she had to field several negatives about her own record of achievements and non-achievements.
Barring another bombshell between now and Nov. 8, the 69-year-old Clinton will become the first woman president of the United States and the 45th occupant of the White House.
For the first 30 minutes Wednesday, the 70-year-old Trump looked civil. He limited his attacks on Clinton to issues and not her health . He also didn't mention the long-ago and sensational extramarital activities of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Although the third debate was not a knockdown, drag-'em-out type of brawl witnessed in the second debate, there still were some smoldering moments Wednesday.
For example, moderator Wallace pressed Clinton on a controversial remark she had made during a paid speech to a Brazilian bank shortly after she ended her tenure as secretary of state.
Clinton so far has resisted releasing the transcripts of her so-called "Wall Street speeches" despite pressure from her primary and general election opponents.
Some of the transcripts, however, recently leaked out when WikiLeaks published a trove of stolen emails allegedly belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
"We've learned from WikiLeaks that you said this, and I want to quote, 'my dream is a hemispheric common market with open trade and open borders,'" Wallace asked.
Trump liked that line. "Thank you," he said to Wallace, interrupting the moderator's question to Clinton.
She said the line had been misconstrued. She said she was talking about "energy" coming across borders, not illegal immigration.
Trump rolled his eyes and smirked at the explanation.
Wallace tried to control Trump's airtime on several occasions after the real estate developer went over his two-limit answer period.
The discussion then turned toward Russia, the nation many intelligence experts believe was behind the Podesta hacking.
Clinton attacked Trump for being too cozy with Russian president Vladimir Putin and said Trump would be Putin's "puppet as president."
Trump responded: "No puppet, no puppet. You're the puppet."
Trump continued to counterpunch. "She doesn't like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her every step of the way," he said.
On the Supreme Court, Wallace noted the next president might appoint possibly three Supreme Court justices, a number that could influence whether the court leans left or right for an entire generation.
On the topic of abortion, Clinton was unable to answer if she could ever support any federal regulation on the controversial procedure. She had always been pro-life and always-felt abortion was a woman's decision to make at all times.
Trump jumped right in.
"If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby," Trump said. "Now, you can say that that's okay, and Hillary can say that that's okay, but it's not okay with me."
On the lewd comments about women Trump allegedly made in 2005 and were revealed for the first time two weeks ago, at least nine women have come forward with claims that Trump sexually assaulted them.
Trump denied all of the charges and accused Clinton "and her very sleazy campaign" of being behind the stories.
"Well, first of all, those stories have been largely debunked," Trump said. "Those people, I don't know those people. I have a feeling how they came. I believe it was her campaign that did it."
Clinton responded: "Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger. He goes after their dignity, their self-worth, and I don't think there is a woman anywhere who doesn't know what that feels like."
Clinton lambasted Trump for provoking several violent incidents during his primary and general election rallies.
"This is a pattern, a pattern of divisiveness of a very dark and in many ways dangerous vision of our country where he incites violence, where he applauds people who are pushing and pulling and punching at his rallies," Clinton said.
Trump, however, said it was Clinton who was guilty of starting the unrest. He cited an edited, undercover video released this week by a conservative activist. The footage allegedly shows Democrat operatives discussing how they have incited violence at Trump rallies.
"So sad when she talks about violence at my rallies and she caused the violence," Trump said. "It's on tape."
Clinton and Trump traded shots about their charity foundations, the Clinton Foundation and the Trump Foundation. Both have come under fire in recent weeks for allegedly have been involved in various scandals.
When Clinton initially said she was "thrilled to talk about the Clinton Foundation," Trump saw an opening.
"It's a criminal enterprise," he said. "Saudi Arabia giving 25 million dollars. Qatar, all of these companies. You talk about women and women's rights. So these are people that push gays off buildings.
"These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money. So I'd like to ask you right now why don't you give back the money that you have taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so horribly? Why don't you give back the money?
Clinton replied: "And I'd be happy to compare what we do with the Trump Foundation, which took money from other people and bought a six-foot portrait of Donald," Clinton said. "I mean, who does that?"
Trump did not respond.
Trump also said Clinton shouldn't be eligible to run for the presidency because of her secret server scandal. The FBI declined to charge her with any criminal violation.
"She's guilty of a very, very serious crime," Trump said. "She should not be allowed to run."
Clinton didn't respond but pivoted to another Trump tactic.
"Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is, is rigged against him," she said. "The FBI conducted a year-long investigation into my e-mails. They concluded there was no case. He said that the FBI investigation was rigged.
"He lost the Iowa caucus; he lost the Wisconsin primary. He said the Republican primary was rigged against him. Then Trump University gets sued for fraud and racketeering. He claims the court system and the federal judge is rigged against him.
"There was even a time when he didn't get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged."
After hearing Clinton's comment about the Emmy's, Trump interrupted: "I should have gotten it."
Maybe he should have, for he is a malignant clown, the likes of which the political scene in this country has not seen in many ages.
