My debate reaction

Neither candidate embarrassed himself. McCain started slow but got stronger. He was effective -- and, importantly, specific -- in many of his responses. I think John McCain parried Barack Obama's attempts to link him with President Bush. Thanks in large part to a passionate soliloquy denouncing earmarks, he also sounded more convincing than Obama in preaching fiscal restraint.

It worries me that even while seconding the call for fiscal discipline (how could he not?), Obama singled out funding for "early childhood education" and medical insurance overhaul as top priorities.

When asked about the impact of the hugely expensive bailout on their prospective budgets, Obama framed his hard choices in terms of deferred increases, while McCain framed his hard choices as cuts. That struck me as a significant difference in approach that could redound to the advantage of the Republican ticket.

Specificity helped McCain when leading questions turned to foreign policy, with the candidates arguing over whose views were closer to those of General David Petraeus (saw that one coming) and -- surprisingly-- former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

I liked that McCain mentioned borders, albeit only once. He harked back to Ronald Reagan (also only once, but nicely) and tied energy policy to foreign policy in a way that Governor Palin is almost certain to reprise next week.

Were this debate the final round in a tournament, I'd say Obama did well, yet award the match to McCain on points. Specificity matters, and so does conviction. McCain appeared to bring more of both to the rostrum tonight, while simultaneously using a few anecdotes from history to illuminate our collective present and foreseeable future.

Anchoress has a good roundup. Jake Tapper caught a lie. Steve at Wizbang noticed something that I had, also: Obama is more hawkish than McCain with respect to Pakistan, although he's reluctant to admit that.

Postscript: I like that Cassandra and I seem to think similar thoughts about the debate.