Clinton comes out ahead in antagonistic debate

NEW YORK — In a relentlessly antagonistic first United States presidential debate, Mr Donald Trump and Mrs Hillary Clinton clashed over trade, the Iraq War, his refusal to release his tax returns and her use of a private email server, with Mr Trump frequently showing impatience and political inexperience as Mrs Clinton pushed him to defend his past denigration of women and President Barack Obama.

Mr Trump repeatedly interrupted Mrs Clinton and at times talked over her throughout the 90-minute debate, making slashing attacks that surely pleased his Republican base but may have put off women and undecided voters. He also left unchallenged her assertion that he paid no federal taxes for years.

For her part, Mrs Clinton repeatedly chided Mr Trump for bungling his facts while accusing him of hiding information about his debts to Wall Street and foreign banks.

A snap poll of 1,000 debate watchers from Public Policy Polling found 51 per cent thought Mrs Clinton had won, 40 per cent thought Mr Trump came out on top and 9 per cent were unsure. Another survey by CNN of 521 voters, found 62 per cent thought Mrs Clinton had won the debate, against 27 per cent for Mr Trump.

“Bottom line: Trump was doing pretty well for the first 15 minutes, then Hillary went on the offensive, and Trump choked,” said Mr William Kristol, editor of the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard.

In a sign investors also saw Mrs Clinton as the winner, US S&P500 stock futures rose as did Asian shares and the Mexican peso.

“What we’re seeing in markets is a small, collective sigh of relief because most commentators, and the few polls that have been released, suggest Clinton won the debate,” said Mr James Athey, an investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.

The Mexican currency has risen and fallen in recent weeks depending on polling numbers for Mr Trump, who has vowed to take trade protectionist measure against the US’ southern neighbour and build a wall across at the border to prevent illegal immigration.

Mr Trump’s strongest moments came early in the evening, when he seemed to put Mrs Clinton on the defensive over her support for free trade agreements that he argues have cost Americans jobs.

But on issues of race and gender, Mr Trump was less sure-footed. When he was pressed about what he would say to people offended by his years of questions about whether Mr Obama was born in the US, Mr Trump claimed credit for Mr Obama releasing his birth certificate.

Mrs Clinton also accused Mr Trump of having “a long record of engaging in racist behaviour”. She singled out his family’s real estate company for being sued by the Justice Department in 1973 for racial discrimination.

Later, Mrs Clinton recalled Mr Trump’s stream of insults to women over the years.

“This is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs, and someone who has said pregnancy is an inconvenience to employers, who has said women don’t deserve equal pay unless they do as good a job as men,” Mrs Clinton said.

Mr Trump did not have a forceful rejoinder, saying that most of his insults had been aimed at the comedian Rosie O’Donnell, with whom he had had had a feud.

Mrs Clinton came off as a classically prepared debater who used Mr Trump’s record and words against him at 19 separate moments, while Mr Trump seemed to be improvising on stage much of the time. He was stunningly personal in his attacks, such as questioning her stamina.

She fired back: “As soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a ceasefire, a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina.”

Mr Trump seemed most confident when he accused Mrs Clinton of lacking a record of success or results despite being in public life for 30 years. He tried to pin blame on her for decades of US policy, including the decision by Mr Bill Clinton, to sign the North American Free Trade Agreement into law, as well as her past support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Mr Mark McKinnon, a Republican political strategist and former adviser to President George W Bush, said the “general advantage” went to Mrs Clinton while “there was not a knockout on either side. They’re both going to live to fight another day”.

“I don’t think he lost any votes tonight,” he said of Mr Trump. “I think his base is with him. I’m not sure he added them. But the birther stuff and the women’s stuff will galvanise her base.”

The first of the three debates began as polls show Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton effectively neck and neck with just over 40 days until the election on Nov 8.

The debate at Hofstra University was like no other in the era of television: The first female presidential nominee of a major party facing off against an alpha male businessman with no political experience, both of them world-famous and both of them deeply unpopular, with a potential record-setting audience of 100 million watching and hoping to see their preferred candidate blow the other to smithereens.

Mr Christopher Devine, a political science professor at the University of Dayton in Ohio said Mr Trump’s message on Monday sometimes got lost in a welter of hyperbole that invited mocking responses from Mrs Clinton.

“He’ll identify a problem people are concerned about, but in that excitement over making that point, he goes overboard and makes claims that don’t hold up. It loses its effectiveness at that point.”

After the debate, Mr Trump said he thought the debate “went great”. He suggested that he showed restraint in the face of Mrs Clinton’s attacks, saying that he was going to raise Bill Clinton’s personal infidelities, but did not because he saw their daughter, Chelsea, in the audience.

Mrs Clinton went from Hofstra to a debate-watching party of supporters. “Do you feel good tonight?” she asked them. “Well, I sure do. We had a great debate.” AGENCIES