No clear winner and why it bodes well for Obama

I don't think either candidate had a significant edge in the substance of the debate or in "scoring points" against each other. It just wasn't decisive one way or the other.

That said, I see two points that bode well for Obama.

Point one: Appearances. Where was McCain looking? As has been graphically illustrated repeatedly in this thread, Obama turned and addressed John McCain. McCain looked, I'm not sure where (at Lehrer?), but it wasn't at Obama. McCain threw some odd facial expressions while Obama was talking as well. I don't like the fact that appearances count so much in elections, but they do.

Point two: If any debate was going to play to McCain's strengths, it was this one, the foreign policy debate. Obama held his own and I don't expect to see much movement in the polls from this debate. The toughest night for Obama is now out of the way. He'll likely get stronger in the next two debates. Then there's the VP debate, which if Palin doesn't get it together better than she has in her interviews thus far, is going to be a bloodbath.