Joe the Plumber obviously!

Although McCain worked Obama's line about spreading the wealth around quite effectively, it kicked off a constant back-and-forth about what's best for Joe, which I think was fought to a draw. But McCain did get off the best line of the night when he said he wasn't George Bush.

At the same time, as we've said after every one of these debates, it probably wasn't enough in the end. McCain seemed to miss a couple opportunities. He allowed Obama to parry the Ayers card without driving his point home. He had a chance to call Obama out on his "tax cuts," but didn't. I think McCain got the better on the social issues, such as education, and maybe because of that, he probably won on points. But Obama certainly didn't have a bad night. As with the last two debates, Obama was steady. Ultimately, I don't think this will change much.

On a larger scale, Obama's goal throughout these debates was to reassure a voting public that it was, as they wanted, OK to go with the Democrat. Looked at that way, there was probably very little McCain could have said that would have changed anything. Eyes were on Obama and as long as he didn't flub, melt down, or otherwise fold on stage, he was going to win.

One last thing: "Senator Government"? If not a slip of the tongue, then a pretty good line.

That's my take anyway. Here's what others are saying:

Mark Halperin: "Still, if a silent majority of persuadable voters watched the debate, they saw why McCain's advisers have faith in him and still believe he can win this race."

Chris Cillizza: "McCain did not score the knockout blow that many Republicans had hoped but he did land several solid body shots."

Noah Pollack: "A losing night for McCain. And worse, a puzzling one. He whiffed more times than a drunk .100 hitter."

David Gergen: "McCain likely helped himself with his base tonight, but I doubt that he helped himself much with undecided voters."

Marc Ambinder: "Bob Schieffer. The best moderator. This was the best debate. You really got a good sense of where the candidates stood."

Paul Mirengoff: "Ultimately, it seems unlikely that McCain cut into Obama's lead through this performance. And Obama may have taken another small step towards making Americans comfortable with the prospect of his presidency."

Jim Geraghty: "The discussion of Joe the Plumber, and Obama's concept of "spreading the wealth" might break through, I don't know. It ought to. "