Race to White House is real, not reality TV: Clinton

Taking a dig at her Republican rival Donald Trump, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said the race to the White House is real business and not "reality TV".

"This is not reality TV. This is real. It's as real as it gets. So we're going to get the economy working for everybody, not just those at the top," Clinton, 68, said on Tuesday.

"We're going to keep America safe, provide strong, steady leadership, and we are going to bring our country together across the divides that have pitted Americans against each other," she told her supporters in North Carolina.

In her speech, a confident Clinton alleged that Trump during the debate said he would not honour the commitment the country has made with its friends and allies.

"Words matter. And last night it sounded like he was basically telling our treaty allies in Asia, 'Hey, we're not sure we're going to be there for you even though we have a mutual defense treaty'," she said.

"People start to doubt America's word, America's intention. I felt like I had to jump in and say, 'I just want to be clear. We will honour our treaties. We will support our allies and our partners," she asserted.

Clinton faced Trump in the first of the series of three presidential debates on Tuesday.

"We have two different visions here. I believe we are stronger together. That is at the core of what I've done over my years in advocacy and public service," she said.

"I believe that America is already great, and it is our responsibility to make it even greater. I believe that as we make our economy work for everyone, we also need to keep our country safe, and we need to provide strong, steady leadership in the world with our allies and our partners," she added.

Noting that she has already voiced her views on a range of national security and foreign policy issues, Clinton said she had a plan for defeating and destroying the Islamic State.

"What we hear from my opponent is dangerously incoherent. It's unclear exactly what he is saying," Clinton said.

She said Trump made it very clear that he had not prepared for the debate.

"At one point he was kind of digging me for spending time off the campaign trail to get prepared. But just trying to keep track of everything he says took a lot of time and effort. And I said, 'Yeah. You know what? I did prepare. And I'll tell you something else I prepared for. I prepared to be president of the US and I think that's good," she said amidst an applause from the audience.

Clinton alleged that it was very well possible that Trump has not paid any taxes.

"He (Trump) actually bragged about gaming the system to get out of paying his fair share of taxes. In fact, I think there's a strong probability he hasn't paid federal taxes a lot of years," she said.

"And this is a man who goes around calling our military a disaster; who goes around criticising every institution, from health care to education, our vets. But he probably hasn't paid a penny to support our troops or our vets or our schools or our health care systems," Clinton alleged.

IMAGE: Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, US. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters