Round 1

From a purely political view, I'd say McCain did slightly better tonight than Obama. Obama is no Dan Quayle or Sarah Palin, but Senator McCain managed to question the preparedness of the Junior Senator from Illinois quite frequently during the second half of the debate, putting Obama on the defensive. McCain's rosy picture of the Iraqi surge will probably appeal to anyone on the right side of the fence, even though Iraq continues to be the most dangerous place in the world. On the economy, McCain wasn't as effective. When he said something like "a lot of us saw this train wreck coming" I did a double take. This was the guy who was cheerleading for Bushonomics until a few weeks ago. He also said he had been fighting pork barrel spending for years. Apparently he wasn't very successful, since he cited a figure saying wasteful spending has tripled over the last few years.
Correction, I just glanced at Factcheck.org
McCain said special appropriation earmarks had “tripled in the last five years,” but he was wrong, since they have decreased sharply.