Kathie Obradovich

kobradov@dmreg.com

Hillary Clinton summed up the first presidential debate against Donald Trump with these few sentences:

“I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president. And I think that's a good thing.”

No doubt she prepared, carefully, to make that particular statement. She also prepared, meticulously, to blast Trump on birtherism, his tax returns, company bankruptcies, racism in operating his business and numerous other negatives. And she hit the mark far more than she missed.

Trump, on the other hand, said paying no federal taxes makes him smart. He’s proud of his years of false claims, that he’s now admitted were false, that President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States. He did a good thing, he said, because he succeeded in getting Obama to release his birth certificate.

He defended himself on charges his company was sued for denying housing to black people by saying he settled the case without admitting fault. And hey, he opened a non-racist country club!

Trump’s strongest moments came as he described the decimation of manufacturing jobs that he attributed to multi-national trade agreements. He hit his major theme early: Long-term politicians haven’t solved the problems.

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“Secretary Clinton and others, politicians, should have been doing this for years, not right now because of the fact that we've created a movement. They should have been doing this for years,” he said.

It’s good he made those points early, because I wouldn’t be surprised if many voters were turned off quickly by the harsh attacks and candidates’ constant interruptions of each other.

But Clinton, like a seasoned politician, had a lengthy list of specific proposals for improving the economy: investing in infrastructure, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing. Raising the minimum wage, equal pay for women. She summed up his plan as “trumped-up trickle down,” and Trump offered few assurances about why his ideas would work better than Clinton’s plan.

But while outlining her proposals, Clinton skillfully baited and teased Trump, who was all too happy to abandon his message. He was so distracted that he dropped the issue of Clinton’s private email server to dive into some jargon-laden description of his company as “under-leveraged” and therefore great.

Trump had an opportunity to go back to Clinton’s email controversy when the talk turned to cyber-security. Instead, he pointed out that his son is great on computers.

Clinton dismissed her email issue by simply reiterating that she made a mistake and she wouldn’t do it again. That won’t close the subject and Trump may not have done her a favor by letting her off the hook instead of allowing her to fully answer her critics.

This debate comes at a crucial time in Iowa. Early voting starts Thursday, so many Iowans may well make their final decision after this first debate.

Hillary Clinton to visit Des Moines as early voting begins

Trump leads Clinton in most recent polls of Iowa likely voters. The most recent, from Quinnipiac University, shows Trump with a 7-point lead over Clinton in a race that also includes Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

The scorecard pundits were describing before the first presidential debate boiled down to this: Trump needed to seem competent and presidential and Clinton needed to seem trustworthy and personable.

Well, except for his almost-tranquil first few answers, Trump dropped into his usual, free-associating style. He was loose with facts, short on details and exactly the sort of undisciplined non-politician that helped him win the GOP nomination.

Clinton’s smile was almost welded to her face and at one point, she gave an incongruous hoot and shoulder wiggle. But she wasn’t funny, she wasn’t particularly warm or fuzzy and she wasn’t necessarily even likable. Instead, she was tough. And in this debate, that was more than enough to give Clinton a decisive win.