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I think you make a very cogent analysis. I was going to give the tie to McCain because he didn't flip out and didn't show signs of dementia, but I think you have put it well.

Spot on analysis. I felt that it was pretty even but I'd give a slight advantage to Obama. McCain had to show that Obama is not ready to be Commander-in-Chief. He didn't accomplish that.

I think there will be comparisons between Nixon/Kennedy and this debate. If you listen to this on the radio, it seemed much more even. There were clashes, each got some punches in, but nobody let much blood. If you watched this, the visuals gave the interpretive key to the discourse. McCain seemed agitated (just as Nixon did), and we felt like we were seeing more into the personality of McCain that we would like, and what we saw was not pleasing. Both Obama and McCain became frustrated, for example, but Obama's was a 'wait, let's get the record straight' and McCain's was visibly annoyance, peevishness. He seemed more like the angry old man yelling at kids on his front lawn. Josh has made comments about the lack of eye contact. Psychoanalytically, it indicates fear of one sort or another, and the subliminal message was of weakness. I think this may itself account for the low polls: the contradiction being a guy on home turf where leadership is the highest value, and he manifests fearful behavior, which made even his strong statements/points look more like bluster and defensiveness.

The conventional political wisdom is to never say your opponent is right during a debate, which is something Obama did at several points. It will be interesting to see how that plays out - but I do believe it makes Obama look more reasoned.

I wonder how the Biden Palin debate will go, especially in light of her recent Couric interview. Can Biden turn to Palin at any point and say, "I just don't understand your answer. It makes no sense" or is it so obvious he doesn't have to say anything at all? (That may be the toughest for Biden).

"McCain suspended his campaign, said the debate had to be canceled, he went to Washington, screwed up the deal, and then un-suspended his campaign and flew to the debate even though there wasn't a deal. Usually when a 72-year-old man acts this way, this is when the kids start calling nursing homes." --Bill Maher

"John McCain showed up without running mate Sarah Palin, which is a shame because she actually has a lot of experience with financial matters. You know, she lives right next to a bank." --Jimmy Kimmel, on Obama and McCain's meeting with President Bush at the White House

I'm black and the thought that McCain may be trying to diminish his black oponent by ignoring him crossed my mind but ultimately I think he was just trying to stick to his notes and not get too angry. McCain did seem to hold Obama in great contempt with his cold unstaring demeanor. I don't think it's because Obama is black so much as because he is angry that his "suspension" stunt backfired so badly.

I think behaving like you detest your oponent is a poor strategy especially when he is friendly, interactive and generous in return. I think that may explain why the post-debate polls favor Obama by so much. I thought it was much closer to a tie.