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Experts say Clinton wins Presidential debate, but question what it means

Posted at 5:59 PM, Sep 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-28 13:32:22-04

SALT LAKE CITY - The Presidential candidates each claimed victory, the pundits split on party lines, and the flash polls following the debate say Hillary Clinton won decisively.

That's a partial breakdown of reaction after the first Presidential debate between Clinton and Donald Trump, which was viewed by at least 80 million people.

CNN has done flash polls after every Presidential debate since 1984. This time, Clinton came out ahead of Donald Trump with 62 percent of respondents saying Clinton won the debate and 27 percent saying Trump beat his rival.

Boyd Matheson, President of the conservative Utah-based think-tank the Sutherland Institute, crossed the aisle in his evaluation, at least partly.

"I would say that on points Hillary Clinton won the debate yet she lost because she did not do anything to close the gap in terms of trust or authenticity," said Matheson, referring to common critiques of the former Secretary of State.

Rachel Sanders, Executive Director of the left-leaning Alliance for a Better Utah, thinks Trump was on better-than-normal behavior but still showed qualities Utahns find offensive.

"I do think that Utahns, across the board, conservatives to progressives in Utah, disagree with him fundamentally. He is rude. He is unkind. He is a bigot for all intents and purposes," said Sanders, saying in particular Trump was disrespectful to women during portions of the debate.

Winning Presidential debates does not indicate the winner of an upcoming election.

Going through all of CNN’s post-debate flash polls, former presidential candidates Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Ross Perot, Al Gore and Mitt Romney all won debates and never occupied the Oval Office.