A Strong Performance by Obama

Barack Obama has just turned in his best performance of the campaign. While I believe John McCain delivered a spirited effort, Obama showed poise, stature, and a command of the facts that made him appear very presidential.

McCain needed to take the gloves off and he did. The only problem is that he sometimes showed a nasty streak that deterred from his otherwise solid arguments. The audience meter of uncommitted Ohio voters generally responded far less enthusiastically to negative attacks, of which McCain had many more than Obama -- too many, in fact.

At this stage of the campaign, McCain needed a game changer. Tonight was not it. McCain lost, period.