Today On Channel C: The Final Debate

Last night's presidential debate provided the candidates one final opportunity to show the American people which man would be the best choice to serve as the leader of the free world, and right from the get go, John McCain was on the offensive.

For the first third of the debate, John Mccain was as strong as he's been in these debates. The Arizona Senator had a rather deflated Obama on the defensive, and it looked like McCain might own the final debate. But many pundits agreed that McCain's plan to bring up Obama's ties to William Ayers and ACORN, combined with numerous eye rolls and grimaces, derailed McCain and allowed Obama to get back on track.

Apparently viewers agreed. A poll done by CNN says that 58% of those polled thought Obama won the debate, while John McCain only scored 31% of the vote. Obama was also viewed 48 points more likable by viewers. Let's hit the blogosphere to check out what people thought.

James Joyner at Outside The Beltway says that Obama's cool demeanor made John McCain's personal attacks a stretch:

• Overall, mostly good news for Obama: People like him, trust him, and think he shares their values. McCain, who has enjoyed very high favorables throughout his career, has clearly damaged himself by going on the attack, especially with dubious charges that don’t seem believable when applied to the nice, smiling gentlemen [sic] they see on their television sets.

Over at OnePointOh!, the opinion swings in McCain's favor, but it might be a case of too little too late:

• And by a narrow margin McCain did manage to nip this debate out of Obama’s kitty.