By any measure, average performances

Barack Obama certainly didn't deliver a mind-blowing presentation at the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., on Friday night. But neither did John McCain. In general, both candidates did a respectable job reinforcing their visions for the next four years, playing well to their base constituents but doing little to reach out to voters who may still be undecided. And both demonstrated remarkable weaknesses in the first of a series of debates that could prove critical.

For his part, Obama did a nice job of remaining poised and providing thoughtful, detailed and coherent answers to the questions — a positive accomplishment for a candidate sometimes criticized for being long on lofty language but short on detail. Still, he allowed John McCain to put him on the defensive too often, responding to the GOP candidate's charges clearly but sometimes not punching back hard enough to level the playing field. And he too often repeated the phrase that McCain was "absolutely right" — not the best strategy when many viewers remember sound bytes but not the broader context. Perhaps most notably, he didn't tie McCain's policies to those of the Bush administration forcefully enough, and he didn't adequately connect McCain's support for the Iraq war (and its astronomical price tag) to the current economic crisis. Both points would have resonated with undecided voters, and both were arguably missed opportunities on Obama's part.

McCain, meanwhile, sought to paint himself as a seasoned, tested patriot whose experiences better equip him for the job in question, and whose independent and bipartisan spirit make him a good leader. Nevertheless, his modus operandi was clearly to be on the attack whenever possible (with his lagging poll numbers, he probably had no choice), and this carried mixed results. When leveling charges against Obama, he spoke so passionately and verbosely that he almost came off as scolding his opponent. This was not presidential in character. Neither were his reactions to Obama's words. McCain has a reputation for having a short temper, and he obviously tried to suppress this during the debate by plastering a fake smile every time he grew annoyed with the Democratic candidate. Trouble is, this smile looked more like a dismissive smirk at times, and when coupled with his occasional gasps and interjections, McCain seemed downright flustered. Body language matters during debates, and the senator from Arizona demonstrated this clearly on Friday night.

Granted, it will take time for the true impact of this first debate to be known — but at first blush, it seems fairly apparent that no clear winner emerged. If anything, this should serve to make the upcoming debates even more crucial. I trust that millions of voters across the country — both committed and undecided — will join me in paying close attention to them.