Donald Trump sniffed and stumbled. Hillary Clinton smiled and stayed standing. And moderator Lester Holt of NBC stayed out of the way, except when parroting Democratic attack points. So went Monday night’s first Presidential debate at Hofstra University.

The GOP and Democratic nominees squared off with an estimated 100 million people watching, with a pre-debate atmosphere more akin to a Super Bowl than a somber political discussion. Lincoln-Douglas? Try Ali-Frazier … or Alien-Predator.

They Presented Themselves

The format called for a 90-minute debate broken up into six sections, covering three topic areas. That nice-and-neat format went out the window quickly, with the two candidates quickly rumbling through a range of issues from taxes and jobs to ISIS and the Iran deal. Fathers, children and grandchildren were also mentioned. Fortunately, no mothers.

For over 90 minutes, Hillary Clinton presented herself as a candidate with the knowledge and measured experience to lead the nation, while attacking Donald Trump for his business practices, his risk to international security, his alleged racism and his words over the years against women. She even knocked his inheritance.

Donald Trump tried to present himself as a successful business leader standing up for America, while trying to avoid the snarkiness which had marked his Republican debate performances. His main goal: demonstrating to voters he can be President of the United States.

Hillary kept smiling throughout, with an air of bemusement at her rival’s answers. Donald Trump kept sniffing throughout, saying “wrong, wrong,” to Clinton’s many declarations, and failing to take advantage of many openings Hillary and her record presented.

Still, Trump had his moments.

Trump Highlights

Donald Trump, who when he sleeps probably snores good sound bites, had several strong lines scattered throughout the night:

“I will release my tax returns — against my lawyer’s wishes — when she releases her 33,000 e-mails that have been deleted.”

“It’s about time that this country had somebody running it that has an idea about money.”

“Hillary has experience, but bad experience.”

When Hillary said she admits that having a private email server was a “mistake,” Trump replied “That was not a mistake. That was done purposely.”

He also had the snappiest answer to a canned line: Said Hillary: “I have a feeling that by the end of this evening I’m gonna be blamed for everything that’s ever happened!”  “Why not?” replied Trump.

Trump also scored when reminding the country that the Obama/Clinton abandonment of Iraq created the vacuum that gave us ISIS. The Iran Deal? “That was a beauty.” Similarly, he reminded the nation that Clinton has been at the center of power for nearly 30 years, and didn’t do any of the things she’s promising now.

He noted how she declared TPP (the Trans Pacific Partnership) the “gold standard” before rejecting it when it became too politically painful to support it. He also reminded Sanders voters how the DNC leaks revealed that Clinton and the DNC’s tried hard to undermine him.

Trump was also strong when he declared there were two words you won’t hear from Hillary Clinton: “Law” and “Order.”

Most pointedly, Trump avoided personal attacks on Clinton, but for questioning her stamina and a mild “When you try to act holier than thou, it really doesn’t work. It really doesn’t.”

In fact, at the very end, after Clinton launched a direct, hostile personal assault on Trump, he refused to respond in kind. “I was going to say something extremely rough to Hillary, to her family. But I said to myself ‘I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.’ It’s inappropriate. It’s not nice.'”

While Trump demonstrated some growth as a candidate, he still made his rookie mistakes.

Trump Lowlights

Many times when Hillary left her jaw exposed, Trump failed to throw a punch. When Hillary talked about cyber-security, Trump didn’t point out that Hillary kept our national secrets on a server tucked in a bathroom. When Hillary talked about having the stamina to testify 11 hours before Congress, he did not remind the audience she was testifying about Benghazi, the mistakes that got four Americans killed and the lies about it she told the American people.

When she said “I have met a lot of the people who were stiffed by you and your businesses, Donald,” he could have replied, “I would have liked to have met Ambassador Chris Stevens.”

Trump also wandered into the world of weird with comments like “no wonder you’ve been fighting ISIS your whole life,” begging the media to call Fox News host Sean Hannity about Trump’s opposition to the Iraq War, and repeatedly mentioning the property or businesses he has in different locales.

Twitter also had great fun with Trump’s constant sniffling during the debate, and mainstream media fact-checkers got carpal tunnel tweeting about his alleged misstatements.

Clinton’s Highlights

Hillary Clinton remained steady, practiced, knowledgable, appearing in command of her facts. Her highlight was her consistency.

After Trump went on a particularly winded, confusing boast about his temperament versus hers, she paused for effect, and answered with a simple, laughter-inducing “Whew, okay.” It was the closest thing to a Reagan-esque “Well, there you go again” the night offered. It will be interesting to learn someday if the line was planned.

After Trump spoke about the dire situation in the African-American community in our inner cities, Hillary spoke about the “vibrancy of the black church.” It would be the only time the subject of faith would be brought up by either candidate or the moderator.

Her reply to Trump’s questioning of her stamina was quick, strong and clearly at the ready: “Well, as soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease-fire, 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.”

In fact, a highlight for Hillary has to be that she didn’t falter, cough or faint.

The danger for Hillary is those words and one debate don’t erase the video of her 9/11 collapse.

Clinton’s Lowlights

Clinton did not shake the notion that every line is rehearsed and tested. She did not dispel the notion she has a nasty streak. And the smug, practiced smile got to be a bit much. One can wonder how a person that cold can ever have “overheated.”

She opened up by singing from the liberal songbook: taxing the rich, calling for more government spending, demanding “equal-pay for equal-work,” attacking Wall Street, embracing green energy. She promised a retread of the Obama adminisration. She ended with snarling personal assault on Trump, thus giving away the “Trump is nasty” card.

One line may come back to haunt her: when she was asked if police have an “implicit bias” against African-Americans, her answer indicted not only our peace officers, but each of us. “I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police.”

Hillary also went off on the birther issue, clearly pandering for the African-American vote, calling the Obama birther issue a “racist lie that our first black President was not an American citizen.” She ignored Trump’s response pointing out the role her close advisor Sidney Blumenthal had in originating the birther story in 2008.

And she certainly was not challenged on it by the moderator.

Debate Moderator Lester Holt

Holt generally stayed out of the way and let the candidates do all the talking, even if that meant his questions getting ignored. However, his first question signaled a pattern that would occur throughout the night:

There are two economic realities in America today. There’s been a record six straight years of job growth, and new census numbers show incomes have increased at a record rate after years of stagnation. However, income inequality remains significant, and nearly half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

“Things are going well, but the rich are getting richer” plays on Clinton’s turf.

Holt would go on to ask a series of questions over the course of the debate meant to put Trump on the defensive, like asking about his tax returns and quoting Trump’s remark about Hillary not having a “presidential look.” He also asked about the birther issue, which mysteriously re-emerged within the last couple of weeks thanks to the Washington Post.

As the Trump campaign was quick to point out, he did not ask any questions connected to the myriad of Clinton scandals or statements:

Nothing on emails. Nothing on the corrupt Clinton Foundation. And nothing on #Benghazi. #Debates2016 #debatenight

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2016

Nothing about FBI Director James Comey calling her “extremely careless.” Nothing about her false statements the Comey confirmed to Congress.

In all that talk about race and police, he did not ask Clinton about her embrace of Black Lives Matter, and its often violent rhetoric against peace officers.

Holt also did not challenge her answers, while often interrupting to challenge Trump. Politely, he’d interrupt, but interrupt he would.

On to Round Two

Neither candidate was afforded the opportunity for a closing statement, probably for the same reason a movie trilogy has cliff-hangers. And even if tonight was not the brutal, Tarantino-esque entertainment bloodbath many were tuning in for, we know there are two more sequels to come. And if this election season has taught us anything, it is we can predict nothing.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton next meet Sunday, October 9. It’ll be a town hall format, moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC News’ Martha Raddatz.

The two genial VP candidates, Mike Pence and Tim Kaine will debate on October 4th.

 

For instant reaction to the first Presidential debate, click here .

For a quick wrap-up of the reactions to the debate, see Dustin Siggins’ Reactions.

For The Stream commentary, see John Zmirak’s Post Debate Memo to Donald Trump.

For a transcript of the first Presidential debate, click here.