washington<u+2014>the harsh tone of sunday<u+2019>s presidential debate favored neither candidate, according to undecided voters and experts in both parties, though it isn<u+2019>t clear that republican presidential nominee donald trump was able to regain lost ground after the release of a 2005 tape in which he made vulgar comments about women. less than two days after the disclosure of a video in which he speaks about women in coarse, sexual terms , mr. trump said he was embarrassed but that the remarks were simply <u+201c>locker-room talk.<u+201d> democrat hillary clinton said mr. trump lacked the temperament to be president, as she absorbed her rival<u+2019>s criticisms over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and her judgment in voting to take military action in iraq. with the two candidates clashing in sometimes harsh, personal terms, undecided voters interviewed by the wall street journal after sunday<u+2019>s event said they were put off by the tone of the debate. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m tired of the negativity; i<u+2019>m tired of the attacks on both sides,<u+201d> said garrett thacker, a 30-year-old republican from galloway, ohio, who works for a car company. he said the debate solidified his decision to vote for either gary johnson, the libertarian candidate, or conservative independent evan mcmullin. still, republicans said that while mr. trump may not have recovered completely from the video episode, he had managed to stop the free fall that followed its friday release. by saturday, dozens of prominent republicans, including at least 11 gop senators, had withdrawn their support for mr. trump , with many saying he should withdraw or that they planned to vote for someone else. <u+201c>trump faced a huge test and did much better than i expected,<u+201d> said fred malek, finance chairman of the republican governors association and a leading fundraiser for past gop nominees. <u+201c>while he can<u+2019>t erase his disgusting comments on the recent tape, he effectively deflected some of the damage and was able to highlight hillary<u+2019>s flaws.<u+201d> while mr. trump may have appealed to the republican base with his sharp attacks on mrs. clinton, his approach may not have helped him with women voters, a group that he has struggled to win over . allison magnus, a college english professor in vandalia, ill., said she has decided to vote for mrs. clinton, though she dislikes both candidates. she said in the past she thought she wanted a businessman to run for president. <u+201c>he kind of fits the bill, but he doesn<u+2019>t in big, alarming ways,<u+201d> she said. she cited mr. trump<u+2019>s lewd comments made in the 2005 video, which made her fear that her own daughter might face a hyper-sexualized environment. lori long, 57, a retired paper-mill worker in clarkston, wash., said she voted for the republican candidates in both 2008 and 2012. she already felt it would take a lot to convince her to vote for mr. trump; now, she says, she can<u+2019>t be convinced. ms. long said she was angry at mr. trump. <u+201c>when i saw that video, i thought, you fool. you are such a fool,<u+201d> she said. she also said, though, that she cannot vote for mrs. clinton and was pleased that mr. trump asked mrs. clinton questions about her own <u+201c>skeletons,<u+201d> including a batch of 33,000 emails she deleted off a private email server. ms. long<u+2019>s reaction was consistent with strategists<u+2019> views that while mr. trump may have stopped the bleeding, he did little to improve his prospects for victory. <u+201c>because trump entered this debate in a tailspin, he had to focus his efforts on securing his base and boosting the spirits of republicans who worried the last 48 hours were basically the end of their chances,<u+201d> said republican strategist kevin madden. <u+201c>while he wobbled in the early part of the debate, the prosecution he put on during the majority of it was exactly what these base voters wanted. the problem, however, is that his base right now is not enough to win and he did absolutely nothing to fix his problem with women voters.<u+201d> with little more than four weeks until the elections, voters who aren<u+2019>t committed to either mr. trump or mrs. clinton account for about 15% of the electorate, based on real clear politics statistics. because the presidential contest is still close, that is enough to determine the outcome of the election. write to siobhan hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com
undecided voters put off by presidential candidates<u+2019> bitter debate - wsj
siobhan hughes michelle hackman