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First Presidential Debate Roundup: Presenting the Real Winners & Losers

While political pundits bicker over which candidate emerged victorious from Monday’s first presidential debate, Team TVLine is putting the spotlight on the event’s secondary winners and losers. (Of course, should you also have a strong opinion about the Clinton v. Trump of it all, we have a poll for that below).

A likely winner be television as a whole: The 90-minute duel, which was held at Hofstra University and moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt, is expected to draw Super Bowl-sized ratings. Industry watchers are predicting the tally will land somewhere between 80 and 100 million viewers. Anything north of 81 million — which was how many tuned in to the 1980 clash between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter — would set a new record.

One thing is certain: The audience will be as yuuge as the stakes. With that in mind, peruse our gallery to see who walked away from the debate of the century with a little extra political capital and who should elect to sleep in tomorrow.

Launch Gallery: Presidential Debate: Winners & Losers

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