I think both candidates did well. I found McCain surprisingly charming for someone whose policies I don't agree with (particularly in economics and Iraq). At least he's not painful to watch, like Bush. I can hardly make it through 30 seconds of Bush without cringing and actually starting to hemorrhage blood.
McCain seemed like a polished politician, firm enough on his own ground, somewhat shaky when it came to addressing new things like this tall, young opponent who had the wrong color skin. McCain deed seem comfortable in the Town Hall setup, but I agree he moved somewhat stiffly, probably a result of age and wounds. So I suppose that both gained and lost him points. He tied himself?
Obama wasn't quite as elegant as I had hoped. Twice he misspoke-- dropped a "not" from a phrase and said he was glad he'd grown up in this part of the country when he meant world. But those were minor mistakes. He did well enough dropping names and facts-- no one will match the Clintons on this, but he was good. I was glad he kept the measured tone and refused to be hurried-- a fault I have-- so I think his message stood a good chance of being received.
I enjoyed the "Truth Check" section afterwards. How _do_ you people manage to watch TV? It's like anything over a minute long is a sin. I felt like I needed to develop ADD while taking speed. Be that as it may, they managed to cram in 6 facts to check, 3 from each speech. They noted Obama was off in his GNP for Iran, saying he'd quoted the old figure of $79bn when it was closer to $58bn, so he was