No KO's, no TKO's.  (Good Ghu, I'm using a sport's metaphor.) If you didn't hear last night's debate, read it here.

My first impression, and it had nothing to do with the content of the debate, was that wasn't it amazing that in the heart of the Deep South, we've got a black man up on stage debating a white man.  If I would have suggested that would ever happen when I was growing up I would have been laughed off the stage...

Second impression, and it did have to do with the debate, was that McCain rarely directed his comments at Obama even when the content was directed at Obama.  It was also impossible for him to address him as anything but "Senator Obama".  Barack, on the other hand, talked to John.   Called him "John". 

I was pleased, though, to see less of the parallel play than I have seen at many of the recent debates.  The candidates actually did interact with each other rather than spouting off isolated sound bites.  I do have to get down on Barack for answering a question about "cats" with a response about "dogs".  McCain did it less... 

On to style...

McCain has the long, smooth, even voice of your uncle telling you a story.  It doesn't get too excited, and it doesn't modulate a heck of a lot.  It sure doesn't speak of "fire".  With his history of flying off the handle, I'm sure his handlers had a shock-pack on him during debate practice that gave him a jolt any time he started to get too wild.

Obama needs to work on "off the cuff" responses.  "Uhs", "ahs", and "umms" punctuated a lot of his responses.  I chalk a lot of that up to experience in debate-type speaking.  The content was all there, but the delivery style reduced it's level of credibility.  And, with McCain talking about his credibility all the time it's important that Obama match the credibility of his content with a presentation style that's appropriate.  I've been at an Obama rally, and I know he can deliver a solid, uninterrupted, paragraph.  He needs to get that "stump speech" style into his "debate style".  That style is very much needed in the "he said-she said" interactions.

Finally, content...

I think the edge went to Obama.  The crux of the evening was on McCain's flip-flopping on issues.  I think more could have been made of the "the economy is fundamentally sound" line from McCain.  Here's where a real go-for-the-throat hard hitting response from Obama would have been great. 

I think Obama did a good job pointing out who gets the advantages of his tax plan versus the tax plan of his rival.  If that point alone, that the middle class wins under Barack and the thin, thin, upper-crust wins under McCain, makes it out, then the debate was all that Obama could have hoped for.

THere was more, and I'll mull it over a bit before I write more.

I am really waiting for Round Two... the VP debate this coming week.