The financial crisis was a gift to Obama. Had the debate been 90 minutes of straight foreign policy it would have been a drubbing from beginning to end, with no relief. Instead, the first half ended up being about a subject where Obama theoretically has the advantage.

And yet, he wasn’t even able to score any points off of that. He had plenty of opportunity — Ramesh is spot on to note that McCain can’t carry an economic message beyond spending. However, tonally Obama was just off. He kept flailing with one attempt after another to blame McCain for the financial crisis, where McCain looked like the actual statesman by talking plainly about solving the crisis — and even working with Democrats to do so — rather than pointing fingers.

As for the foreign policy section, it was just no contest. Obama was on the defensive, and frequently sounded naive. McCain pounded him to dust on the preconditions exchange, and all Obama could do was dissemble. The fact that Obama didn’t respond at the end to McCain questioning his experience or judgment was especially telling.