Trump won: here’s why

Trade, tax and temperament were three of the issues on which the two candidates clashed in their first presidential debate.

Clinton did well enough, but victory surely went to Donald Trump — although I was in a minority thinking that in the audience at the US Consulate where I watched the debate.

Clinton — referred to throughout by Trump as ‘Secretary Clinton’ — appealed to her experience of government. Trump — whom Clinton simply called ‘Donald’ — appealed to common sense.

Clinton’s answers were often formulaic and canned. She used gesture phrases like ‘Wall Street’ and ‘taxing the wealthy’ to signal her apparent commitment to equality.

Meanwhile Trump — who began interrupting her just 21 minutes into the debate — used wit and a certain bombast to hit home his message about jobs, growth, trade … and Obama’s legacy.

Massive debt burdens the US economy. In their bids to tackle the problem, each candidate claimed their economic plans had been assessed rigorously.

Clinton’s strategy for stimulating the economy is to soak the rich with higher taxes and increased government regulation. Trump’s is the opposite: lower taxes and less regulation.

At least Trump gets the idea that economic growth depends on generating new skills, jobs, products and markets — and getting government out of the way.

When the debate turned to crime, the differences between were even starker: Clinton spoke of ‘implicit bias’ in the police while Trump emphasised the need for ‘law and order’.

Trump still managed to inject moments of spontaneity, combat and wit. His authenticity helped deflect Clinton’s barbs about tax returns and the focus on Obama’s birth certificate.

All up, Clinton made much of the running on policy specifics which meant that Trump was often responding to her — at times defensively.

But demeanour and appearing ‘presidential’ — demonstrating ‘good’ rather than ‘bad experience — are likely to be more important to voters than a candidate’s mastery of policy detail.

American voters — many of whom fear their country is heading in the wrong direction — will go to the polls to elect someone they see as an authoritative problem solver.

As the race continues to tighten, Trump looks increasingly likely to be elected President in November.