STEPHEN GREEN: “Instant analysis? McCain won, but not by nearly enough to matter.”

UPDATE: John Althouse Cohen: “All of the first 3 debates have included the phrase ‘stinking corpse.'”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Charles Austin emails: “Tonight, Senator Obama said $18 billion in earmarks between 535 Congressional ne’er-do-wells isn’t that big a deal, but if we can only keep 500 CEOs from getting $350 million in tax breaks, well, that’s how we fix problems!”

Fred Barnes on Fox: “This was not ‘a dull civics course’ — but it was dull! . . . You heard Obama and McCain saying the same things that they say in campaign speeches . . . for about 3/4 of the debate they were on automatic pilot.”

Obama is currently showing a 24 point drop on Intrade in the debate-performance contract. That’s odd. I didn’t think it was that lopsided. [LATER: Now he’s up by 7. This contract seems . . . excessively volatile.]

ANOTHER UPDATE: Stephen Green on the phone: “Oh dear God, that was awful. Brokaw made me long for the days of Gwen Ifill.”

MORE: The Anchoress on Worst. Townhall. Ever. “Vodkapundit says McCain won, just barely. He might be right…but I think Obama did nothing good for himself tonight by sounding like a policywonk going-on-80, and failing to bring the charisma or even a modicum of humor. Obama made himself seem like any other politician. With his youth, he should have shown a brightness, a bounce to the step, even a cockiness; he should have walked all over the 72 year old McCain, and he didn’t do it. Instead, he was wonkish and grim to the point of coma, and he almost seems like he has to be prompted (in rebuttal) to say anything good about America. . . . They don’t expect it from McCain, but a little energy from Obama was really necessary. So, all in all, I think more than McCain winning ‘a little,’ Obama actually lost ‘a lot.’ He handed the ‘youth, energy and charisma’ ball to Sarah Palin.” Yeah, but not to John McCain.