I don't think there is any question John McCain won tonight's debate. It wasn't an overwhelming win, but it was solid. Obama got off to a good start talking about the economy - and if the first few minutes of the first debate mean the most then it was even more important for him. He looked crisp, forceful, and did an effective job of painting the economic discussion in terms of the middle class.

McCain's arguments during the economic portion of the debate were much more limited in scope and vision, and he suffered by contrast. That said, I think he held his own, relatively speaking, and he did manage to hit Obama on earmarks, which is a line of attack that may pay dividends.

About thirty minutes in, however, as the subject turned to foreign policy, McCain took command. Obama did have a good moment with a strong response on Iraq, turning to McCain and ticking off the list of things Obama said he was wrong about. But that was about the only time that Obama pressed the action. The rest of the time he was on defense, and though I generally thought he handled himself well, McCain was the one in control.

When the subject turned to Iran, McCain really dropped the hammer. That five minute or so discussion did Obama no favors, and even though he clearly knew it was coming and had done his best to prepare, his comment about meeting Ahmadinejad "without preconditions" was simply too big of a vulnerability to paper over. McCain took advantage by calling Obama "beyond naive" and "dangerous."

How much any of this will matter is unknowable. It may matter some, a great deal, or not at all. There were no campaign shattering gaffes or super killer sound-bytes, which leads me to believe that tonight's debate wasn't much of a game changer. McCain may benefit a bit in the short term, but tomorrow morning he's also going to have to return to talking about the economic crisis - a subject that has given him fits all week.