I'm under the belief that when one feels very strongly about a candidate, positively or negatively, one often ignores the bad or the good that comes from the candidate (depending on how he/she is viewed).  I actually quite enjoyed Brad's scoring of the debate, because it seemed to have been done in a more objective a manner.  Though I will say that I too will probably suffer from this as well, but I will try to give credit to each of the candidates where I believe credit is due, and express my disagreements where I have them.

Now, for me personally, I haven't decided which of them to vote for, or if I'd instead vote for a third party, or if I simply choose not to vote.  I don't like Obama's plan to expand the size of government, while I'm also concerned about having more social conservative judges in the Supreme Court. 

Now, regarding the economy, I believe that McCain wins that one for the most part, as I do agree that we need to cut spending drastically, but to me that also includes perhaps reducing the spending on defense, since I view that additional dollars spent there have a large amount of diminishing returns, and that some of that money could be used better in the private sector.  Defense is of course still important, but this strategy of maintaining military superiority in all regions of the world, in my view is unsustainable in the long term and not very cost effective, but I"m sure there's probably some disagreement with this view.

Regarding foreign policiy, well, that to me is a more tricky issue.  I don't understand why so many find it odd that Obama says that he might conduct military operations in Pakistan if the Pakistani government is unwilling to cooperate.  I might be mistaken, but isn't that already going on now?  If we find a terrorist cell in Pakistan, haven't we sent in covert teams to neutralize such a cell before?  

Now regarding Iraq (which is the main reason I'm split on foreign policy), whether or not to withdraw from there, I'm for the most part undecided, and I don't have enough information to make a decision.  The question basically boils down to whether or not we can get a positive return for our investment into that region, or if it's instead better to cut our losses and leave.  In investing, it's been shown that often times people are less likely to sell their "losers" than their "winners", because they often hold out hope that their losers will rebound and they can turn a profit.  However, when you tie your funds into these, you cannot use those funds to  invest elsewhere.  So the question I'm asking is if the resources we have placed in Iraq are the ideal place for them.  If we can stabilize the country to a point where we no longer need to pour resources into there, then there's a chance that the investment was worth it in that we now have one more stable nation in the region that is going to be on our side.  However, if we can't really stabilize the country, or the benefits of stabilizing the nation do not justify the resources spent (and if we could spend those resources somewhere else) then we should consider leaving, and not worry about holding on to a "loser" as it were.

To me at least, Obama seems more open to using our resources in other areas while McCain seems like he'll stubbornly keep much of our resources tied in Iraq regardless if that's the best place for them or not.  I will admit, it would annoy me a bit that we have invested so much into that country only to risk having it fall apart if we leave, but I will also realize that if it does harm us being there, we should just take the bullet and try to to what's best for the future and not constantly regret the past, but in that I agree with McCain in that we have to stop pointing fingers at those who were for the invasion of Iraq in the first place.  I myself believed in what was said about it back before we came in, and I supported the war, even though now, in retrospect I believe it was a mistake.  But let's stop complaining about the past and get on with the future.

Overall, as one who is undecided, I believe that Obama may have edged out McCain a bit, but it wasn't anything spectacular.  There will be those of course that say that Obama won hands down, and others who will say that McCain was the clear winner, and there are valid reasons to hold both views.

Well, all in my opinion in any case.