Hillary Clinton Gives a Master Class in Fighting Bullies

Today is Spirit Day, when the nation comes together to take a stand against bullying of LGBT youth. Helpfully, in Wednesday night's presidential debate, Hillary Clinton gave a master class in how to handle a bully.

Counter them with facts.

Clinton did this to Donald Trump several times last night. When the Republican nominee claimed she'd accomplished nothing in her 30 years of public service, she contrasted her record with his, going back even farther.

"Back in the 1970s, I worked for the Children's Defense Fund and I was taking on discrimination against African-American kids in schools. He was getting sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination in his apartment buildings. In the 1980s, I was working to reform the schools in Arkansas. He was borrowing $14 million from his father to start his businesses. In the 1990s, I went to Beijing. And I said women's rights are human rights. He insulted a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado -- called her an eating machine. And on the day when I was in the situation room, monitoring the raid that brought Osama bin Laden to justice, he was hosting The Celebrity Apprentice. So I am happy to compare my 30 years' experience, what I've done for this country, trying to help in every way I could, especially kids and families, get ahead and stay ahead, with your 30 years. And I will let the American people make that decision."

Point out when they're whining.

After Trump refused to say if he'd accept the election results if he lost, the Democratic candidate chronicled her opponent's history of baseless complaints.

"Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is is rigged against him. The FBI conducted a year-long investigation into my e-mails. They concluded there was no case. He said that the FBI was rigged. He lost the Iowa caucus; he lost the Wisconsin primary. He said the Republican primary was rigged against him. Then Trump University gets sued for fraud and racketeering. He claims the court system and the federal judge is rigged against him. There was even a time when he didn't get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged."

Hit them with a zinger every now and then.

When Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin has no respect for former Secretary of State Clinton or President Barack Obama, she interjected, "Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president," implying that the puppet would be Trump. When he responded, "No puppet. You're the puppet," he sounded like a playground bully who know's he's just been had.

Don't let them rattle you.

As Clinton was talking about her plan to shore up Social Security -- and included another zinger, saying that maybe Trump would try to get out of paying increased payroll taxes to support it -- he complained, "Such a nasty woman." Clinton didn't miss a beat and kept on talking policy. And the day after the debate, women all over the country are claiming the title "nasty woman" as a badge of honor.

And stay above the fray when you can.

As moderator Chris Wallace asked each candidate, in closing, to sum up why they should be president, Clinton, who went first, kept it positive. Because of the order, she didn't have a chance to rebut Trump's many negative and misleading statements in his summation, but her words speak for themselves.

"Well, I would like to say to everyone watching tonight that I am reaching out to all Americans, Democrats, Republicans, and independents, because we need everybody to help make our country what it should be -- to grow the economy, to make it fairer, to make it work for everyone. We need your talents, your skills, your commitment, your energy, your ambition. You know, I've been privileged to see the presidency up close. And I know the awesome responsibility of protecting our country and the incredible opportunity of working to try to make life better for all of you. I have made the cause of children and families really my life's work. That's what my mission will be in my presidency. I will stand up for families against powerful interests, against corporations. I will do everything that I can to make sure that you have good jobs with rising incomes, that your kids have good educations from preschool through college. I hope you will give me a chance to serve as your president."