Barack Obama had a lot of very good moments last night. On substance, I thought this exchange with McCain (on health care mandates and tax credits for health care for small businesses) was his best, via Josh Marshall:

Transcript on the flip.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Last night:

MCCAIN: Well, thank you, Bob. I just want to get back to this home ownership. During the Depression era, we had a thing called the [H]ome [O]wnership [L]oan [C]orporation. And they went out and bought up these mortgages. And people were able to stay in their homes, and eventually the values of those homes went up, and they actually made money. And, by the way, this was a proposal made by Senator Clinton not too long ago.

So, obviously, if we can start increasing home values, then there will be creation of wealth.

Sounds like an endorsement of a new HOLC. I hope that means Senator McCain will vote for it next year in the Senate.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

So says Democracy Corps, which focus grouped the debate:

John McCain entered tonight’s debate needing to halt Barack Obama’s momentum and fundamentally change the dynamic of the race.Not only did he fail to achieve this goal, McCain dug himself an even deeper hole.Undecided voters watching the debate felt McCain gave a decidedly un-presidential performance, appearing rude, negative, and easily flustered – a stark contrast to Barack Obama’s cool, commanding presence.Obama was seen as the clear victor in the debate, and a group that was much more disposed to support McCain at the outset instead shifted decisively toward Obama (42 to 20 percent) after viewing the debate.

Key word descriptions of John McCain's debate demeanor from Patrick Healy at the New York Times:

tetchy ... increasingly inconsistent and testy ... churlish ... tactics and tone appeared not to help him ... voice turned edgy at times ... frozen smile and wide eyes — which blinked frequently and distractingly at times — seemed a little strange ... [quoting Robert Shrum] "confused, ineffective, at times stumbling"

From Mary McNamara at the Los Angeles Times:

at times could not contain himself, muttering and issuing small grunts ... eye-widening and explosive snorts ... simply rude

From a San Francisco Chronicle editorial:

[more ...]

Did McCain catch up? I found him incredibly unappealing. He seems like a very small man, in all respects.

He played to his radical right base. He knows that getting out their vote is the only way he can win, since he has lost with independents and all other women outside the base.

I'd bet even Joe the Plumber is voting for Obama.

Update: The CNN focus group of undecided voters in Ohio say Obama won and three decided to vote for him tonight. Ayers didn't resonate with the group.

Via Politico: In Katie Couric's post debate interview with Joe the Plumber, aka Joe Wurzelbacher, Joe said Obama has a "tap dance...almost as good as Sammy Davis, Jr."

"McCain was solid in his performance," he says. "I still don't know where he stands," he says of Obama. "I'm middle class. I can't have my
taxes raised any more."

He also says he actually isn't in the bracket where Obama would raise his taxes -- but he's worried that Obama will shift the bracket down.

He also said that, in his encounter with Obama, the Illinois Senator [has] "a tap dance...almost as good as Sammy Davis, Jr."

Bye, Joe. I think your 15 minutes are up.

This post on the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire links to a spooky right wing website that purports to have an interview with Joe the Plumber. If it's accurate, Joe is frightened by the socialist tendencies of Barack Obama's healthcare and tax policies.

Warning: The site's mission is "to empower all Americans to become proactive defenders of our national security and community safety." The site is pro-Patriot Act, believes Homeland Security starts at the borders, and urges greater awareness and fear of the threat we face from terrorists working to "establish Islam as the dominant force worldwide by undermining the Western institutions that restrict the ascendancy of radical Islam." Take the source for what it's worth, even if it was good enough for Washington Wire.

And then ask whether Joe the Plumber (who asked his question hypothetically because he hasn't actually started his own plumbing shop and isn't making $250K but might some day) was worth talking about tonight.

Immediately after the debate, David Gergen on CNN at first waxed on about how well John McCain did in the first 30 minutes of the debate. Then he said McCain blew it with his anger and Obama did best in the last 30 minutes. The video is here:

"It then hit the personal animosity of the advertising and then I thought McCain swerved off track...He got overemotional about it. He looked angry. And it was almost an exercise in anger management up there for him to contain himself. And Obama maintained his cool, and I thought that changed the tone of the debate and Obama won the last half hour. I thought Obama really did well on education, abortion and health care." Then the polls came in.

Later, after the poll numbers came in and the focus group had weighed in, Gergen said it's clear McCain didn't do what he needed to do tonight and he should shift to figuring out how to save Republican House and Senate seats and ending the race with his dignity intact.[More...]

I thought this moment was the SUBSTANTIVE moment of the debate:

MR. SCHIEFFER: Even someone who had a history of being for abortion rights, you would consider them.

SEN. MCCAIN: I would consider anyone in their qualifications. I do not believe that someone who has supported Roe v. Wade -- that would be a part of those qualifications. But I certainly would not impose any litmus test.

Excuse me, Senator McCain, if you say you would not appoint someone who supports Roe, you have just imposed a litmus test. The anti-choice litmus test. As a voter, you have disqualified yourself as a potential President for me.

More . .

Hillary praises Obama's debate and says he's "3 for 3."

Wolf Blitzer asks her about McCain's quip that he isn't George Bush. She points out that McCain has voted with Bush 90% of the time so he has contributed to the economic distress our country is going through.

When asked if she'd agree to be in Obama's cabinet, she said she wants to stay a Senator.

The third and final debate between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain begins at 9pm ET on CNN. Big Tent Democrat, TChris, the TL Kid and I will be live-blogging.

The live blog stays below the fold so that it can be a bit wider than the front page allows. Just click on the "There's More" button or bookmark the permalink to go directly to it.

You can comment same as always in the comment section below. You also can send us live messages through the software. Only comments you post below will appear on the site.

We'll add live polls so you can weigh in on how they are doing. [More...]

Obama campaign spokesperson David Plouffe:

“We came into the debate with two thirds of the American people thinking that John McCain is running a negative campaign, and Senator McCain spent 90 minutes trying to convince the other third. Once again, Barack Obama won a clear victory because he made the case for change for the middle class, while John McCain just had angry and negative attacks.