Staff Reports
Hillary Clinton was the clear winner in Monday night’s first presidential debate, according to a national survey from Public Policy Polling.
PPP found that at the event at Long Island’s Hofstra University, Clinton defeated Donald Trump 51 to 40 percent.
The most salient point for Clinton was that among young voters, a group that has underperformed for the former secretary of state, 63 percent think she won the night, compared to only 24 percent for Trump.
Of that age group, 47 percent said the Monday night debate made them more likely to vote for her, with only 10 saying they were less liable to vote for her.
As for Trump, PPP found only 23 percent said the debate made them more liable to vote for him, versus 39 percent saying they were less likely to vote for him.
In addition, Clinton won the debate by statistically wider margins with women (54 to 36 percent) and either African-American or Latino voters (77 to 13 percent).
With white voters, the debate was essentially a draw, with Trump leading slightly 47 to 45 percent. Clinton came out of the debate with a clear advantage over Trump on temperament, preparedness, and trust with nuclear weapons.
On temperament, Clinton led by a 17-point margin, 55 to 38 percent, while respondents said Trump did not have the temperament for president by an 11-point margin, 42 to 53 percent. The gap was even wider among independents — 56 percent saying Clinton has the temperament for the job; 54 percent said Trump does not.
Voters say Clinton is prepared to be president by an 11-point margin, 52 to 41 percent. In comparison, respondents stated Trump was not prepared to be president by a 10-point margin, 42 to 52 percent.
Among voters, Clinton can also be trusted with nuclear weapons by a 21-point margin, 56 to 35 percent, whereas they felt Trump could not be trusted with nuclear weapons by a by a 9-point margin, 42 to 51 percent.
