By all conventional standards, Clinton won her first debate – but these aren't conventional times

America has never been as politically polarised, and even the small proportion of voters who are genuinely undecided feel they have a choice merely between the lesser of two evils – between two of the most unpopular major party candidates ever

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For once the hype was justified. Monday evening’s first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had been billed as a make-or-break moment for both candidates. The same is said in most election years, but this time the claim may have been true. Mr Trump, rising in the polls and in a virtual dead heat with his rival, had a golden chance to show he was up to the job, at a moment when his opponent was coming off her worst spell in the campaign. He blew it.

On full view instead were all the qualities that so many Americans detest in him: his bombast, his lying, his ignorance and arrogance, his lack of self-control, and his inability to sustain an argument – and, ironically, the shortcomings of what he claims as his greatest assets, his temperament and stamina.

Ms Clinton wasn’t perfect. As usual, she sometimes tended towards the over-lawyerly. Again, she failed to persuade that she was an agent of change in a year when Americans crave change. She was big on laundry lists of policy, but failed to provide an overarching theme to her campaign that might have won over the undecided, and turned lukewarm supporters into enthusiasts. But she was crisp and calm, coherent and collected. Unlike her opponent, she demonstrably knew what she was talking about. Time and again she got under his skin, eliciting scowls and peevish interruptions. Mr Trump never once got under hers. By any conventional yardstick, Ms Clinton was the winner.

However, this is the least conventional of election years. America has never been as politically polarised, and even the small proportion of voters who are genuinely undecided feel they have a choice merely between the lesser of two evils – between two of the most unpopular major party candidates ever. In 2016, Mr Trump has proved time and again that the usual rules to not apply, getting away with outrageous behaviour that would have ended any normal candidacy.

Moreover, history suggests that, even in normal times, debates change few minds. Monday was only the first of three such confrontations. Mr Trump has opportunities to recover lost ground when the two face each other in St Louis in two weeks’ time, and in Las Vegas later in October. In 2004 and 2012, George W Bush and Barack Obama had lousy first debates, but righted their respective ships in the two that followed, and went on to win. And do not rule out some October surprises: more hacked emails, or revelations about the Clinton Foundation, for instance – a topic Mr Trump did not raise once.

But this first debate’s legacy may be enduring. It is now surely too late for a credible “new” Trump – measured, disciplined and presidential – to emerge. Thanks to his own incompetence on the podium at Hofstra University, he left unanswered questions that will dog him in the weeks ahead, not least over his business record and his refusal to publish his tax returns.

Aided by a plethora of opponents on the stage alongside him, the businessman could get by with insults and one-liners during the Republican primary debates. But 90 minutes of one-on-one combat, uninterrupted by commercial breaks, gave Ms Clinton the chance that “Little Marco” Rubio, “Low Energy Jeb” Bush and “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz never had.

Mr Trump simply couldn’t handle it. His temperament – unsteady, impulsive and vindictive – was exposed. The self-proclaimed winner found himself a loser. Even in terms of stamina, the very quality he claimed Ms Clinton lacked, he was second best. She gave the impression she could go on all night. By the end, he seemed by contrast not to know which way to turn, exposed as the blustering, ill-prepared bully who thought he could wing it in the most important and most draining job in the world. Instead, Donald Trump confirmed what has long been obvious: that he is unfit to be president of the United States.