How did Trump win? He beat his GOP opponents mostly through displays of alpha-male dominance. He gave them all nicknames: “Lyin’ Ted,” “Little Marco,” “No Energy Jeb.” His shots at fellow candidates sounded like a list of symptoms from a radio commercial for male enhancement products. Marco Rubio at least tried to compete on those grounds, mocking Trump’s “tiny fingers” at a campaign rally — but ultimately his heart wasn’t in it. Trump mowed down the field.

Clinton didn’t play that game. During the campaign debates, she played rope-a-dope with Trump’s need to dominate, poking him, then stepping back and smiling calmly while he blustered and flailed. She got Trump to reveal his essential misogynistic nature — he was so mad after the first debate that he launched a series of tweets calling a former Miss Universe “disgusting” — while she plugged away with a wonk’s command of facts, figures, and plans. It was the kind of performance familiar to many professional women who have spent their careers getting stuff done competently while letting the dudes around them strut and bloviate.

It worked. Polling showed she won all three debates.