Really? McCain's low point? I believe the line was "this isn't the beginning of the end of this crisis, it's the end of the beginning." It was a clearly scripted line, but also true and, as sound bites go, I kinda liked it.

I agree that Obama came out on top, but he really needs to stop bringing his knife to gunfights.

McCain was nervous, disassociated, and unprepared. Over and over he played the tapes in his head from the campaign trail. He's clearly staggered by events and his own shortcomings.

Obama played it smart not to overreach. A gaff - especially to seem too eager, too dangerous, too panicky - would have been an vital injury.

What the Obama campaign need to do next is role out the proxies - the celebrities, the favorite local politicians, the high-viability advocates with a uniform message of trust and confidence. Let them make the hard punches for the next 15 days or so.

Biden also needs to not overreach with Palin and appear wolfish. Like Couric, Gwen Ifill will just ask basic questions of Palin and she will crumble of her own accord. She'll try the "Legally Blonde" strategy again (see Judith Warner's essay in the NYT - http://tinyurl.com/3fpfuh) so it's Ifill's responsibility to maintain the pressure - not Biden.

Thinking about it, it's a pressure moment for Ifill - not Biden or Palin. Well - a squirm moment for dedicated Republicans who are considering future chuckles at the golf club such as, "gee and you voted for that moron, didn't you."

It's Obama's race to lose right now.

This one was pretty close, but that is as good as a McCain loss for the foreign policy debate.

McCain did better than I had expected, demeanor-wise. He didn't come across as condescending, which is a common criticism of him last night that I've read.

I thought Obama was great. What a contrast between him and John Kerry during a debate! I liked the part where McCain made the "so far left" crack and Obama chuckled, causing McCain to chuckle.

That came off very well.

Kerry would have looked all stuffy and offended and Gore probably would have rolled his eyes and tried to interrupt for the umpteenth time to immediately rebut it.

really? I thought mccain was dripping with contempt for obama. he was thoroughly awful.

As a huge Obama fan, I was terrified that McCain had the upper hand last night, at least in terms of swaying Jane and Joe Undecided in Ohio. I'm surprised to see that Obama has gotten so much good press, he seemed pretty scholarly, unapproachable, and nuanced. I guess it's difficult to "relate" to viewers when talking about foreign policy issues like Iran and complicated economics business like the bailout, but I thought that he could have more directly confronted McCain about his taxcuts for the rich, connections to the Bush administration, etc. His line about McCain being wrong was stellar; we need a moment like that about every issue to truly paint McCain as an extension of Bush's policies.

I think the thing about debates is... they don't change anybody's mind. If you're for Obama, he won. If you're for McCain, he won. I don't think either of them scored a knockout, or a major gaffe on the lines of Gerald Ford's Poland remarks. I thought it was a yawner, pretty much.

Obama looked solid. McCain not looking at Obama annoyed me. It was disrespectful.