Trump blames his rival for America’s past policy failures, while Clinton detailed her policy plans.

The first presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton offered little new perspective about either candidate’s personality or politics, as both stayed on the beaten track.

While Mr. Trump continued with hyperboles and slogans that characterise his public speeches, adding little in terms of substance or specifics, Ms. Clinton sought to distinguish herself by offering details about her own plans, calling out her opponent for hiding his tax records and charging him with shady business practices.

Mark Cuban, billionaire Clinton supporter and foe of Mr. Trump did not sit in the front row as he had suggested earlier, avoiding a potential showdown. Mr. Trump had threatened to seat a former paramour of Bill Clinton in the front row in response, but later backed out. Ms. Clinton addressed her opponent by his first name Donald throughout, while he addressed her as ‘secretary Clinton’ most of the times. At the beginning he asked her: “Is that ok? I want to you to be happy.” Once or twice, he addressed her by her first name. Both candidates were occasionally dismissive of each other – Ms. Clinton by shaking her head, and Mr. Trump, by frowning.

Jury is still out on who won the debate. A CNN poll of 521 registered voters who watched the debate had Ms. Clinton beating Mr. Trump by 62-27. A The Hill online poll in which more than lakh people voted, is in favour of Mr. Trump, 58-36, while six percent think it was a draw. A Time online poll of 1.4 lakh people nearly 12 hours after the debate has Mr. Trump leading 53-47. But polls immediately after the debates may not be sustained, when comedians and commentators take apart the candidates threadbare in the coming few days. Mitt Romney was declared the winner in the first debate in 2012 against Barack Obama, but that did not last.

Ms. Clinton’s strategy was to place herself as an average middle class American, whose interests are harmed by the likes of Mr. Trump, a billionaire businessman who inherited a fortune. She said the ‘trickle down’ theory of economics does not work for middle class Americans, and Mr. Trump’s tax plans sought to give more to the richer, including himself and members of his family. “The wealthy must pay their fair share of taxes,” she said, and even speculated that Mr. Trump was not releasing his tax returns because he may not have paid anything at all. Mr. Trump did not refute that suggestion. "That makes me smart," Mr. Trump interjected. When she raised the issue a second time, he said: "It would be squandered ... believe me.”

Mr. Trump’s strategy was to place himself as the outsider who is out to rescue America from the likes of Ms. Clinton, a career politician. To top it, he also repeated numerous times his claims of being a successful businessman. “That is the kind of thinking we need as a country,” he said. Even when Ms. Clinton accused him of fraudulent business practices, he said he was protecting his company’s interests and now he would protect the interests of the country. And he laid at her feet a litany of American failures – ranging from the chaos in West Asia to domestic economic distress – linking her to “30 years” of U.S policy, starting with her husband’s tenure as President in the 1990s to the current one, Mr. Obama. “You blame me for everything,” she said at one point. “Why not?” he replied.

Mr. Trump did not offer a credible explanation for why he is not releasing his tax returns as all candidates over the last 40 years have done, but his ability for twisted logic was yet again at display when the moderator confronted him. If Ms. Clinton releases all her emails – she has destroyed some 33000 of them from the time when she was Secretary of State – he would release his tax returns, he said, in one of the several non sequiturs of the evening. Overall, he sought to blame Ms. Clinton for her qualifications and experience, while projecting his own limitations as qualities that America needs in the new President. While this strategy was confronted and taken apart by fact checkers immediately, the public response may not necessarily be the same.

For Ms. Clinton, the most embarrassing moment was when Mr. Trump caught her on the wrong foot for her vacillating positions on global trade. Mr. Trump reiterated that he would penalise companies that shifted jobs out of America, and said his opponent was an early supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. She said she no longer supports it as the deal turned out to be a bad one. “So was it President Obama’s fault?” he asked. “Is it President Obama’s fault? Secretary: Is it President Obama’s fault? He’s pushing it.” Ms. Clinton avoided a direct answer to that, as her path to victory is largely dependent on projecting herself as the inheritor and protector of Mr. Obama’s legacy.