Last night's debate between candidates McCain and Obama was surely lacking in fireworks. There were no devastating gaffes, and no clear slam dunk moments either. The Democrat started strongly and appeared somewhat more surefooted on the economy questions. The Republican was visibly more at home with foreign policy later in the debate. Hard not to call this one a tie. But since McCain is starting to nosedive in the polls, he needed a big win and he certainly didn't get that. Moreover, since Obama appeared to hold his own with the foreign affairs topics--supposedly his opponent's strongest suit--he may have established himself as a more convincing commander-in-chief with undecideds.
I watched the debate on CNN and was most interested in the focus group feedback of the independents, as represented by the white line on the meter at the bottom of the screen. These voters seemed to dial downward whenever either candidate made an aggressive attack. My informal gauge of the data was that Obama did better with the independents, at least those in the CNN studio. The consensus of other polls done in the last twelve hours confirms that.
