It is absurd to call this a debate.

This was just rhetoric. Words upon words.

Meaning nothing. I am alarmed. Not only are

we, as a people, in horrid shape- but these

two clowns seem to have no idea what to do

about it. I'm gonna vote 'present' and move

to Austria.

Judging by the poll numbers - which I can assure you the McCain campaign is taking seriously, even if you aren't - McCain and Palin's mud slinging is doing them more harm than Obama. All Obama, and by extension the rest of the Ds have to do is stay out of the way. Let Obama stay the picture of calm reassurance; McCain and Palin will disintegrate into a fury of spitting froth all by themselves, along with the 25% of the population who still support the madness of the last eight years.

This one's in the bag.

Well done Senator Obama.

John McCain overestimates his record and qualifications to be commander-in-chief. As the Fang of Gabon say, “The tree that grows at the top of the hill believes that it is taller than other trees.”

daily with lies. I don't think I could have shared a stage with McCain given the non-stop character assassination that is taking place against Obama, including inciting racist threats of murder.

It looks to me as if McCain/Palin won't be happy until they start a riot. Whipping up racism is a slimey and pathetic way to get votes, but apparently McCain has lost all semblance of decency.

I don't think Sarah Palin has any decency at all.

Biden has been dealing with his mother-in-law's sudden death and funeral this week -- while Palin has taken the opportunity to smear him.

classy lady.

I thought it was interesting that McCain mentioned Warren Buffet for Treasury Secretary given that Buffet has endorsed Obama and is one of Obama's economic advisers.

Buffet has been very vocal about the unfairness of the tax system, therefore, I think McCain is being overly optimistic in thinking that Buffet would work with him. They are on two different tracks regarding taxes.

McCain is most likely accustomed to seeing a black person cleaning floors, but was unprepared for playing the part of the mop this evening (hence the handshake snub afterward, which has already been posted pretty much everywhere).

Let's be honest: this debate was boring.

Obama won on points (and everything else) but there weren't any serious knockout punches thrown, no truly significant moments to speak of. Truth be told, McCain defeated himself tonight. He came across as the unstable curmudgeon. He was shockingly condescending and even a bit racist. Barack Obama came across like the calm, cool, & collected African-American Democratic Nominee while John McCain came across like the Grumpy Olde White Republican ...

First, McCain takes a cheap shot at Brokaw, seemingly in good fun, but it was definitely unexpected, and Brokaw was visibly bothered by it (and almost everything else for the rest of it the night, I felt bad for him).

Then do you remember Oliver, the young black man who asked McCain a question about the economy? McCain responded with "Well, you probably had no idea who Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were before all of this ..."

What?!? Would McCain have responded the same way if that question ABOUT THE ECONOMY was posed by a young, well-dressed white male?

McCain later called Obama "That One." I don't think he meant to sound brusque, but he did. More importantly, he sounded very un-Presidential.

No matter how Americans viewed tonight's debate, John McCain is up against the ropes and in deep, deep trouble. It's going to take a miracle the size of ... Alaska? ... to pull this one off.

Biden has been taking on McCain in a very strong way everyday while campainging largely in the Rustbelt and Applachian states. Unfortunately, he's the one non-star of the four-ring circus, and thus not getting much national press. But given how Obama struggled in such states in the primary season, Biden's under-the-radar attacks (and reassurances about Obama) might be having a more positive effect than any "grabbing the headlines" approach that the McCain campaign is feeding Palin.

Am I the only one who noticed how much McCain has aged recently?

Mentally he seems OK (if a little slow), but physically? He only shuffled around the stage. A bit like my grandpa in slippers and a dressing gown wondering where he left his hot water bottle.

He's beginning to dodder, people.

Wow. The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain on the President-O-Meter couldn't have been more evident than at last night's town-hall "debate".

While Barack Obama answered questions on-point and directly, John McCain hedged, hemmed, hawed and vascilated like a schoolboy caught red-handed at some underhanded prank. His smirks, off-putting and sorry attempts at humor and his disparagement of Senator Obama as "that one" was about as bad as it gets. Only Dubya could possibly do worse...although, I don't see how.

No, the race is over for John McCain; Barack Obama was the grownup on-stage last night and was the one who looked, acted and was actually Presidential.

Obama did not only propose tax cuts as a balm for the middle-class, he mentioned the need for more, better paying jobs as well. This is something that McCain did not once mention, although he seemed to hint that the across-the-board tax cuts he proposes would somehow stimulate growth by encouraging those at the top to invest their money in job creation. Hopefully, the American public realizes by now that it doesn't work this way.

Someone here commented that McCain looks really old lately.

Looking around at people generally, I get the sense that people don't age gradually; I'm now old enough that I've seen people who look youthful for years and years and then, in the space of two or three years, become obviously middle-aged. (Hasn't happened to me yet but I'm steeling myself.) Then it happens again later in life, when you suddenly go from middle-aged to "old" but not yet "ancient." And then, next stop, "ancient."

It's interesting that Barack Obama, although in his late forties, still doesn't look middle-aged. He looks like a guy "in his prime" (whatever that means) and if someone told me he's actually 32, it would not amaze me. The Time Fairy will likely swoop in on him in the next eight years, whereupon he will have the additional advantage of appearing physically mature in a way that underscores his obvious competence. For the next twenty or twenty-five years it's nowhere but up for Obama.

McCain has unfortunately stumbled over the ancient line and that is a bad line to hit--that's when the jokes about hot water bottles and gettin' those damn kids off my lawn come out.