FRIEND: Afterward, we turned the TV off --- anything to miss the commentary from people who have been wrong about everything all along. So the first punditry I heard came from Chris Rock, on the Bill Maher show.

“My father taught me that a black man can't 'beat' a white man, he can only knock him out,” he said, evoking America's long, ugly history with the tilted playing field and the fudged outcome. “At the end, was McCain standing? Then he won.”

I'm with him --- McCain won.

And now that I've read some of the commentary and seen some polling --- all of it indicating that Obama won --- I'm more convinced that McCain won.

That is, of course, ridiculous. McCain consistently lied about his own positions and voting record, answered questions that hadn't been asked, retreated to the safety of his stump speech --- he was the all-about-me guy who has made many of us crazy these last few months. Obama was measured, rational, mature --- you could say “presidential”. By formal debating standards, no contest: The night belonged to Obama.

But I'd wager that only political obsessives --- people who read blogs twice (or more) a day, people who watch the Sarah Palin clips on YouTube with their jaws slack and their minds reeling, people who would read something like this --- think Obama won.

Out there in “America”...Obama lost.

He lost, I think, because less involved viewers --- the “undecideds” who don't follow politics closely and only start to pay attention when the debates roll around and who, the pundits tell us, decide elections --- saw a different debate.

I submit they saw this:

-- From the start, McCain established dominance over Jim Lehrer, who allowed him to interrupt, exceed his time and even grab what looked like an extra response. TAKEAWAY: America hates the media, and especially educated media --- like PBS media. McCain established himself as a “real” American.

-- McCain didn't look at Obama. Others find this worrisome, even pathological. It is. And worse, it probably is a character “tell”, not a strategy. TAKEAWAY: The white man didn't just verbally diss the black man --- he dismissed him. McCain's visual rebuff of McCain gave “real” Americans permission not to see Obama.

And the big thing: The debate sailed over the head of the “average” American and, very quickly, bored him/her. I'd be interested to know the percentage of viewers who watched the beginning who were there at the end; Lord knows I was antsy and tempted to bail. The whole thing was inside baseball: such careful positioning that the very real differences between the candidates were lost in a sea of cottony rhetoric.

Both candidates fled from most opportunities to state a clear position --- if you didn't know better, you'd think McCain cared about “Main Street” just as much as Obama --- and Obama withheld points that seem strongest to me. Leaving Iraq --- haven't the Iraqis not only told us to leave, but given us a date? How do you “win” a war in a country you occupy? Was the “surge” successful because we won hearts and minds or because we have turned Baghdad into a walled city? Do we “win” if an Iraqi government with ties to Iran stays in power? Senator McCain, yes or no --- will you vote for the bailout plan that should be finished this weekend? Health care: Do you know, Senator McCain, how much health insurance a family of four can buy for $5,000? And what if you have a pre-existing medical condition --- where do you go when every insurer rejects you or quotes a price that looks more like your salary?

To use Chris Rock's metric, Obama needs to knock McCain out. I know: This was only the first debate, important for the black candidate to set a tone. But out there in America, where voting means “American Idol”, I don't see how Obama can win by scoring debating points --- he's got to knock his opponent out.

The guy who gave those amazing speeches last winter better show up soon.

ME: I concur completely.

I actually "listened" to most of it rather than "watching." The "I agree with John" repeated what, eight, times was a nightmare. And I share the thought that only the politically-committed (the admission criterion of my new mental institution) lasted through it.

Funnily, it was substantive without substance. And they both were too careful, too wonky (which is esp. Obama's problem) without heat or "the vision thing."

I spent last weekend with some friends on the Jersey shore (btw, Sea Girt is a wonderful nearby retreat off season) one of whom is Ed Rendell's general counsel. Shockingly, she reports that the Obama campaign has yet to reach out to Rendell and his PA operatives who are open to it. Also, she had a comment that resonates more deeply the more I think about it (and this debate represented it, I think), "Obama is very intelligent, charismatic...but he is not a politician."

Now, to my mind, there are big pluses to not being a politician as we know it. But, you can't change the game if you can't change the rules. And McCain IS a politician if nothing else. It's where his (endless) years of experience do grease the wheels for him.

I fear that the guy who made wonderful speeches simply doesn't have the skills for debating; he's too conciliatory which can work as a community organizer (and maybe actually IN the Oval Office) but they won't win over John and Mary Main Street.

Anyway -- my 2 cents. Thanks for sharing your buck fifty!