John McCain seen as decisive winner of first presidential debate.  Here are the results of the Drudge Report online poll:

WHO WON THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?

McCain                       223,082        68%

Obama                       97, 756     30%

Neither                           7,945    2%

Syndicated columnist David Broder:

"McCain was the more aggressive debater.Obama continued to struggle to explain his original opposition to the surge strategy implemented by Gen. David Petraeus and championed by McCain.McCain was loaded for bear on everything from Obama's history as a seeker of earmarks to his readiness for talks ‘without precondition' with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

Wall Street Journal:

"As planned by the commission on debates, most of the night was devoted to foreign policy and there we give the clear edge to Mr. McCain.(Y)ou could see it in his self-confidence, as well as his command of history and facts.Our sense is that Mr. Obama sometimes seemed flustered by Mr. McCain's attacks on his foreign policy naiveté, in particular on Iraq and his failure to support the surge."

Roger Simon, Politico.com:

"John McCain gave one of his strongest debate performances ever.At least twice after sharp attacks by McCain, Obama seemed to look to moderator Jim Lehrer for help, saying to Lehrer, ‘Let's move on'.McCain seemed to be enjoying himself."

Jeb Baffin, Human Events:

"But even on the economic questions, Obama seemed uninformed, even ignorant.Most importantly, Obama's answers were almost nonsensical.

"McCain won the debate with his performance on three issues.  First, the battle of the bracelets.Obama's answer rang hollow after McCain's.  It was nothing more than ‘me too.' 

"The second point--the one that won the night for McCain--occurred when McCain hammered Obama on his promise to negotiate with adversaries such as Iran without preconditions.At that point, Obama was clearly shaken.Obama was thrown off his game, sputtering a bit about the difference between the ‘no preconditions stance'--which he has apparently abandoned--and ‘preparations'.

"The third strike against Obama occurred in another moment talking about Iraq.Again, Obama was thrown, unable to respond with any of his usual glibness."

Dean Barnett, The Weekly Standard:

"But still, it was a big night for McCain.  Or more precisely, it was a bad night for Obama.McCain came across as he always does at these things.McCain looked and sounded presidential.Obama looked silly when he couldn't distinguish between tactics and strategy.Having his maturity frontally challenged, Obama by his own creative antics often came across as childish, petulant, and a little odd.If Obama had wanted to come across as an arrogant jerk, this is the strategy he would have chosen."

Byron York, National Review:

"Obama was.a little off balance for much of the evening.He also let McCain control the discussion.McCain outshone Obama on topics like Russia and Pakistan.Several hours before it began.the Obama campaign sent an e-mail to reporters attempting to lower expectations for their man's performance.(I)t turned out to be right."