Presidential debates...

are usually something I avoid, but here's my take: Maybe I've had too much to drink, but the whole aesthetic of the debate favored McCain. Obama came off as someone who's never had his various positions questioned in any substantive way. He was on defense, and his defense came up lacking. McCain was direct, and he was able to point out where he differed from the Bush administration. Obama's running a campaign against someone other than McCain, and it showed.

We shall see.

UPDATE: see here:

OK, I’ll give you a real close now. Obama strikes me as a modern Chamberlain, praising his (oh-so-transient) “peace with honor.” McCain, however, comes across as “peace when we’re done kicking you ass and not one moment sooner.” And since this was ostensibly a foreign policy debate, I give the win to McCain. Oh, and one other thing — Obama is still talking as I write this. But he’s spending his last answer angling for the European vote, which does nothing but reinforce my point.