"I did not support the war in Iraq,” he said angrily. (Go ahead and pinpoint a single flicker of anger from Clinton during the entire debate.) Then he followed with a rambling diatribe against the “mainstream media,” invoking Howard Stern, (perhaps the first and only time the shock jock will come up in a presidential debate), Fox News host Neil Cavuto, and some private conversations with Sean Hannity (“everybody refuses to call Sean Hannity!”). Not two minutes later, he declared, “I think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament. I have a winning temperament. I know how to win.”

When it was over, Clinton seemed pleased. She’d let Trump’s top spin and spin, until, weary and out of momentum, he finally stopped. Even the audience took a breath, taking in the blowhard’s rhetorical salad of riled-up, inchoate jabber from this, the GOP candidate for president. Her next move should have been familiar to every parent in America who’s weathered the storm of a child’s tantrum. Clinton paused, shimmied her shoulders, and laughed. “Woo! Okay!” Yep.

Say this for Clinton: She figured out what Rubio, Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, and nearly a dozen more couldn’t all those months ago. There’s power and even triumph in stepping back and letting your opponent talk himself into a hole. The more Trump flashes that temperament, the more presidential Clinton looks.

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