90 Minutes after the Debate

Well, it wasn't Lincoln against Douglas. But tonight's debate in Oxford, Mississippi, was the candidates' first showing since the National Conventions. Here are the opinions on the debate from members of the Big 6-the Network Big 3, and the Cable Big 3, to go along with PBS' The News Hour, whose anchor Jim Lehrer moderated:

ABC-Tie, but slight lean to Obama
NBC-Tie, but focus of debate (foreign policy) goes to McCain
CBS-Tie, but focus group of independents gave lean to Obama
The News Hour: Lean to Obama
MSNBC-Tie
CNN-Tie, but with slight lean to Obama; 52-38 in poll, with huge leads on both foreign policy and economy.

The main consensus of the news networks is one I believe in as well: that tonight's debate was, roughly, a tie. Nothing campaign-turning came out of this debate, but it provided a few eye raisers:

>Could anyone answer a question? It seemed as if, in the first half of the debate(the debate changed formats from simply foreign policy to both economy and foreign policy), no one could directly answer the questions that Mr. Lehrer put towards the candidates.
>Why was McCain smirking? And why was Obama smirking? I think they both got under each other's skins, and I think this will make the campaign even more interesting as we move on.
>The only moment I saw where a candidate took advantage of the direct exchange that was one of the unique features of these debates was in the debate section about Iraq, in which Sen. Obama hammered to McCain what he was wrong about in his view of Iraq-that was one of the turning point of the debates.
>I counted up all of John McCain's references to Ronald Reagan-it was only four references, surprisingly.

Here's my take:

Economy: No one really took a large lead, especially being such an important situation. Obama was the one the most on the offensive, so I give it to him. Energy was interspersed within this part, along with the foreign policy component, and I found that Obama did well in this part, actually showing the diverse nature of his policy, unlike McCain, who just focused on his offshore drilling and nuclear power(note to Sen. McCain: if you're going to build 40 nuclear reactors, where ya gonna put 'em?)

Iraq: While one of the two critical points of the debate (in my opinion) came here, no one really took the lead and went on the offensive-this secition was a tie.

Afghanistan and Pakistan: Here was the second turning point of the debate, in which Obama called out McCain on his war-hawk bravado, including his "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" singing earlier in the campaign. Gave this part of the debate to Obama.

Iran: I gave Obama the win in this round, but only slightly. The round centered around talks with President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad without preconditions, and whether or not Henry Kissinger reported such a claim. Obam aheld his own and was able to also do some attacking in this round.

Georgia and Russia: It sounded as if McCain had a 20th Century, Cold War-esque strategy for how to deal with Eastern Europe, but Obama never capitalized and went after McCain on it. Overall, a tie.

9/11 and Closing Arguments: Obama wins this round via his closing statement; he tied everything back to the story of his father and the American dream-the perfect crystallization point.

Intangibles: Obama kept is signature cool for almost all of the debate, although signs showed that he was getting a little irritated by Senator McCain. But McCain looked a bit more agitated from Sen. Obama's claims. I give the intangibles to Obama.

Obama wins the overall victory, but not by much. McCian saved himself from defeat in November tonight, and kept further momentum for Obama at bay. Expect a 1-2 point bounce for Obama.

On Thursday, October 2, in St. Louis, MO, Gwen Ifill of PBS' The News Hour will moderate the lone Vice Presidential Debate between Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) and Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK), from Washington University in St. Louis. The Tuesday thereafter, on October 7, Senators Obama and McCain will debate again, this time in a town-hall setting at Belmont University in Nashville, TN, moderated by Tom Brokaw of NBC. The final debate will occur on Wednesday, October 15, the final presidential debate, on domestic policy, will take place at Hofstra University in Long Island, NY, moderated by Bob Scheiffer of CBS' Face the Nation. All debates will be at 9:00 Eastern Time. Stay tuned to Notepad for pre- and post-debate coverage, one half-hour before and and ninety minutes after each of the debates.

30 Minutes until the Debate

Well, it might not of happened. But Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) will debate in half an hour in Oxford, MS at Ole Miss. Here's what you should look for in tonight's debate:

1. The debate topic was flip-flopped: Sen. Obama was able to change the topic from domestic issues to foreign policy, to show what people believe to be lacking really isn't. If McCain is on the defense this debate, that could do it.

2. Obama did his homework: Sen. Obama and his advisors have been holed up over the last two weeks in Clearwater, FL, for debate camp; McCain didn't start studying until just two days ago at the Morgan Library in New York.

3. Obama's got the momentum: He's got a 10 point lead in most tracking polls, and electoral-vote.com has Obama leading 286-252. I think that if Obama does well tonight, that it might just be over.

Tonight's debate, from the Ford Center for the Performing Arts at Ole Miss, from 8:00-9:30, will be on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.

Stay tuned after the debate to Notepad for a post-debate wrap-up post(there might be video).