The first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama is in the books and neither of them took a major risk at Ole Miss.  Both of them landed some jabs, but there were no memorable moments from this debate.

Basically, if you favor Obama, you will probably think he came out on top.

If you lean toward McCain, you can make the case he had the edge.

McCain didn't get knocked out tonight, but Obama didn't leave him in the dust either.

Both men tried to weave their main themes through the debate.  McCain made the case that he had the most experience and would not need any on-the-job training as Commander in Chief.

Meanwhile Obama looked for ways to tie McCain to the last eight years of the Bush Administration.

Some will certainly argue that McCain needed to "win" the first debate, because it was centered on national security, and you could make that case.

On the other hand, McCain more than held his own when the discussion centered on the economy.

Clearly, Obama benefited in the first debate just by being on stage with McCain. 

But in the end, there's not much you are going to remember from this encounter.  I think my wife may have summed it up best.

"If you're a writer for Saturday Night Live, you must be blowing your brains out," she said.

One final note, was how the two men addressed each other.  McCain hardly looked at Obama the whole night when Obama was speaking.  McCain simply looked straight ahead, down at Jim Lehrer or at his lectern.

Obama repeatedly called McCain, "John."  That struck me as odd, because two Senators in debate would never call each other by their first names.

Next week we have the Vice Presidential debate.  Maybe that will give us more fireworks and more to work with.  There are two more Presidential debates in October.