As I said in my initial reaction, I thought this was a victory, though not a big one, on points for Obama. But in the context of the campaign, I think that's a substantial win for Obama. And like the first debate, I suspect this will continue the solidifying, reassuring effect that -- in retrospect -- was the key result of Debate #1.

One thing that occurs to me after taking some time to mull the exchange is this: where were McCain's new fisticuffs? Bill Ayers, Obama as a liar, terrorist, all the sludge we've seen over the last 72 hours? Yes, he was aggressive on policy. But that's what debates are about. But McCain didn't take any of the shenanigans from the campaign trail into this debate. Almost like he was unwilling to say any of it to Obama's face. Or at least that he knew he couldn't get away with it in front of a non-party-line audience.

On that note, let's review the McCain-Palin sludge-a-thon in today's episode of TPMtv ...

Late Update: TPM Reader ES sends in these thoughts, a different, but overlapping take ...

My intuition is that McCain conceded tonight. Sure, he shot a few across the bow (the 'that one' moment in particular) but he did not go nuclear. He did not engage Obama in the way Palin does on the stump with her references to Ayers, Rezko and Wright. It's as if McCain couldn't bring himself to do so. All his attacks were kind of half-hearted. He's given it his best shot, but when the time came to go for the killer punch, or at the very least, attempt one on prime-time national TV, he blinked. While he clearly despises Obama, he also clearly thinks too highly of himself to get down and dirty with his opponent. He'll do some on the stump, but not in a debate. Hence the show of disdain (and even the naked lies) - that's how McCain negotiates the contradiction between his anger, his frustration at losing to "that one," and his very elevated view of himself. It's like his nonstop talk of honor and victory in Iraq - everybody knows it is not about actual victory (whatever that may mean in Iraq) but about the perception and the narrative of a victorious and honorable exit. So from now on he's gonna let Palin take on the role of the bad cop and make a complete fool of herself (err, as if she had not already done that). He will play the whiny, droopy-eyed good cop. Since he can't have the presidency - quite the narcissistic wound - he will settle for the love of the Washington press corps.

Later Update: A few more responses from around the web ...

"John McCain had a very strong debate tonight. It's too bad for him that it came on a night when Barack Obama was nearly flawless." -- Stephen Hayes, The Weekly Standard.

"Foreign policy didn't come up much in tonight's presidential debate; but when it did, Sen. John McCain--whose strengths lie in this realm--seemed surprisingly unsteady while Sen. Barack Obama came off as more sure-footed than he did in the first contest." -- Fred Kaplan, Slate.

Noam Scheiber has a good summary of what happened at TNR. Obama dominated in what was supposed to be McCain's format. His answers were just much more clear and coherent than McCain's. And he unpacks an exchange that I referenced briefly in my live blog -- the key point in the debate when McCain repeatedly tried to point himself forward as the 'cool hand' at the tiller, appearing either oblivious or indifferent to the fact that the last three weeks have made 'steady' one of the last words a lot of people associates with John McCain. As I wrote in the live blog, "Is McCain suddenly running against himself?". (See the video here.) Let's pick it up from Noam ...

More importantly, I thought the Pakistan exchange was the moment when son overtook father in the Oedipal drama that's been a subtext of this campaign. After Obama gave his initial response, McCain pressed the absurd line that his opponent didn't understand talking softly while carrying a big stick--that he was, in other words, erratic.

Coming from a candidate whose name has been synonymous with "erratic" these last several weeks, it left McCain dangerously exposed, and Obama didn't miss with his counterpunch. "This is the guy who sang, 'Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran,' who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don't think is an example of 'speaking softly,'" he said. "This is the person who, after we had--we hadn't even finished Afghanistan, where he said, 'Next up, Baghdad.'" As if to add insult to injury, Obama nearly straight-armed McCain when he tried to interrupt, underscoring not only his intellectual advantages but also his physical ones.