Tonight's debate was, by-and-large, a draw. Obama made some good points. I generally disagree with him, so I won't say that he made good points, but he certainly scored some good points. Neither candidate had any serious gaffes (that will be perceived by the public- saying that Pakistan was a failed state prior Musharraf's coup WAS a gaffe, but will not be meaningful to most people). Both candidates either missed or pulled several punches.

That said, I think tonight was the beginning of the end.

Barack Obama has spent most of the general election campaign with a small but discernable edge in the polls. However, with the exception of one or two, he has always fallen short of the 50% mark. People want change, they generally like Obama, and they haven't been quite ready to go all the way over to Obama. As with Reagan in '80, and een Bush in '00, undecideds have needed to see that Obama had a full and firm grasp on foreign affairs and national security. Agree or disagree with him, Obama certainly did that tonight. He was direct and authoritative. The hold outs will begin moving his way now.