1) The format was a loser.  This format hamstrung clash in ways that both candidates seemed uncomfortable with.  It was never clear what the 1 minute response time was supposed to do and the moderator frequently dropped in an additional multi-layered question that closed off the possibility of clash.  The Commission on Presidential Debates either needs to step in and run a format that generates better debates, or it needs to get out of the way.

2) The moderator was a loser.  The disastrous wrap up where the two candidates blocked the prompter isn't what I am talking about (although we would expect a seasoned performer to roll with it and extemporaneously close things out).  Instead, Tom Brokaw seemed to be fluctuating between grandstanding and being petulant with the format constraints.  His use of a "yes or no" question on Russia was unsophisticated (see Fallows).  Asking the candidate to name their treasury secretary is a waste of precious time.  The moderator of a town hall distinguishes him or herself by elevating the citizens who are featured as questioners, not by upstaging them.

3) McCain's campaign seems to be caught in the middle of a strategy change (at best). After promising all week that the "gloves would come off," the candidate never engaged.  Yet, if the goal was to rise above the brawl in order to start crafting the message of the final weeks, his condescension and pettiness undercut that strategy.  Ambivalence is never a winning strategy.  A great example was early when he didn't play the town hall card for all it was worth.  If you are going to make that play and argue that Obama didn't want to debate all summer, then make the darn claim.  A snide remark which is only likely to be understood by the few of us who follow these things so closely doesn't do it.

4) McCain has laid down a marker to frame the final debate.  The plan to buy up bad mortgages will get a lot of coverage heading into the next week.  It gives McCain a card to play in a final debate focused on domestic issues as well as an economic message, even if it contradicts his claim that Obama will be a big spender.  The problem is that he never really cashed this out in a way that many of us could understand what he was offering.  It was so new, and so poorly explained, that you almost didn't notice it.  Perhaps it was just a trial balloon, but at this point in the season, you can't just trial balloon something like this.  

5) The take away moments.  McCain saying Brokaw wouldn't be his choice of treasury secretary and/or McCain's comment about hair replacement will be fodder for SNL.  The big assist of the night, and McCain's distinguishing moment came in the end in the form of the question from the former Naval serviceman. This is the kind of authenticity which makes these forums memorable.  McCain calling Obama "that one" on the energy bill will get some play if the Obama campaign has its way, and was an unfortunate misstep.  Overall, though we didn't have the space invasion (from Gore), the watch glancing (from Bush), or the feeling of citizens pain (from Clinton) that will make this debate all that memorable.

Its time to start pouring over the transcript.

Oh, and one more thing, if you haven't seen what the New York Times is now doing with video, transcription, and some serious bells and whistles...you should. They've blown the lid off debates in an age of new media technologies. At post time, they aren't there yet, but it check it out in the morning.