1. It’s Tuesday, September 27, 2016. The election is 42 days away.

2. I wanted Hillary Clinton to act like a President of the United States. Someone who someday will fit nicely on one of those diner placemats with pictures of the 43 guys who preceded her.

She delivered. Big.

Or, as her opponent would say, “bigly.”

Clinton needed to have a command of facts. Check.

Clinton needed to respond to Trump’s attacks. Check.

Clinton needed to look calm and unruffled. She needed to seem as though she was listening to what Trump was saying. Check.

Are there things she could have done better? Sure. Contrary to what post-debate analysts said, I wanted a stronger response to the birther question. I thought there were times when she was calculating whether or not she should cut off Trump’s long-winded rants or just let him draw enough rope to hang himself.

But she was great. She proved she is ready to lead. She did her preparation – which Trump tried to make sound like a bad thing, for some stupid reason. She seemed healthy after her bout with pneumonia – Trump, on the other hand, kept sniffling as if he had a cold.

If that woman can’t be seen as a commander-in-chief, this country deserves the reckoning it will reap.

3. On the other hand:

If you don’t believe the leader of free world should speak in coherent, complete sentences.

If you think a guy who keeps sniping at his opponent when she’s an answering a question is showing some sort of leadership.

If you think a guy who just about bragged about not paying taxes should be able to do that.

If you think the hacker who got into the DNC files was a 400-pound kid on his bed and not the Russians, and that the information he got should be exploited.

If you think Rosie O’Donnell is someone more worthy of badmouthing than Vladimir Putin.

If you think a father shouldn’t be more concerned about monitoring his 10-year-old son’s computer activity.

If you think it’s doing a kindness of some kind to not bring up your opponent’s husband’s infidelities.

If you think a guy can question his opponent’s stamina while sniffling his way through a 98-minute debate.

If you think a guy should be able to scream that his temperament is better than his opponent’s.

You’re looking for Trump. You are beyond hope. You’ll get the hell you deserve.

The CNN poll thought Clinton won the debate by a 62-27 margin.

You know what scares me? That 27% of the people in this country who watched that debate have seeing and hearing problems.