The Joe Plumber Show

There is no doubt this was John McCain's best debate.

He looked and sounded a little like he had somehow been sedated, and his incessant grinning was still somewhat off-putting. But the sedation worked for him, combined with a controlled aggression we have not seen before. He actually sounded fairly reasonable much of the time, although I thought his handling of the abortion questions could have been much more empathetic.

Obama by contrast carried himself well, but it seemed like he was always yielding the last word to his opponent. Watching him try to address Sarah Palin was agonizing- you could tell he desperately wanted to say a bunch of very impolitic things. Although Obama does get extra points for not taking notes- that's impressive. I will also say, I never want to play cards with this guy.

I don't know what the insta-polls will say, but I give this exchange to McCain, if for no other reason than I was starting to doubt he was still capable of sustaining nuanced argument.

The larger question- does it matter? If McCain could somehow transform the tenor of his performance tonight into, I dunno, a campaign, he might really have something. It seems rather late for that pivot, however. I doubt Palin could deliver this kind of message. And I don't think McCain managed to land any blows capable of producing the historic soundbite that might turn the campaign. There just isn't much new ground to cover at this point- I'll be interested to see how many people even watched this one, or just plan to tune in to find out the "winner" in the morning.

Even if McCain does come off as the consensus victor tonight, it will remain one bright spot in the sea of difficulty on which he is adrift. I've no doubt McCain impressed the people who were already voting for him. I guess we all wait to see if he impressed anyone else.