What's The Headline?

The questioners were mostly props, the format, negotiated by both campaigns, was terrible, and there weren't any memorable moments. CW says that John McCain had a 90 minute window to turn his campaign around - to put into play the McCain Resurgence Strategy, if you will, and if that's the CW threshold, I don't think McCain met it. With the exception of "That One," McCain seemed less irritable, although his jokes seemed hokey and fell flat - they don't work when no one laughs. Obama got off to a slow start; he does that a lot, but his last 45 minutes were much stronger. Prediction: The funniest thing SNL will do Thursday night will be about Brokaw trying to get control of this debate. 

Obama did tie McCain to President Bush in just about every answer; McCain criticized Obama in just about every answer.

A McCain aide offers this reaction: "He did great. Strongly connected himself and his policies to the people. He was action not talk. And his closing was absolutely superb."

An Obama aide offers this reaction: "We accomplished our goal; tied mccain to bush on every answer; looked presidential; McCain seemingly had no strategy."