I was interested in seeing the round up of the other side as I'm watching the Drudge and FoxNews instant reax polls rack up HUGE wins for McCain. (At time of this post McCain winning - 69%-29%, and 82%-15% respectively)
I should not have been surprised but take a look at the way the left expresses itself over the obviously good night for McCain:
Jonathan Singer, MyDD:
There's a lot of talk on MSNBC about John McCain's demeanor. He came off as mean, condescending and a jerk, not looking at Barack once the whole night, while Barack came off as Mr. nice guy. Will people judge McCain harshly for acting like a dick or will they see it as strength? Will they like Barack more or will they think he allowed McCain to roll over him?
Josh Marshall:
I said above that McCain didn't have any freak-out moments. But he did have that sneer and there did seem to be this thing where he was so contemptuous and angry at Obama that he couldn't get himself to make eye contact. I think we'll hear more about that.
Angry, angry, angry. Part of the key here is that McCain is clearly miffed that he even has to debate or run again Obama. He thinks it's an insult.
Digby:
It's very hard for me to gauge this debate because to me John McCain is quite obviously a crazy, intemperate, nasty old bastard. He was sarcastic, contemptuous and patronizing. I really, really loathe him.
And from the Daily Kos community:
schof: I was surprised that McCain didn't completely shit the bed.
churchill: when I came home from POW huge groans in OKC
VictorK: Lehrer only asked one bad question, and that's the last one on another 9/11. Favorite Moments of the Debate: Obama's zinger on bomb bomb bomb iran. Brilliant. When Obama pointed out he had a bracelet too.
plf515: Obama could have been more forceful in rejecting McCain's lies, and in bringing up what is in all the spending that McCain objects to. But McCain didn't look great either. Obama finished strong. The CNN ticker seemed to indicate more support for Obama than McCain, but I am not sure how reliable that is, and the difference didn't seem overwhelming.