I don’t buy the idea that McCain had to do something phenomenal tonight to pull this race out. Debates, especially this cycle, aren’t made for game-changing, and his margin is small enough that slow and steady could conceivably pull him out.

But a better performance than he gave tonight would have been extremely helpful. I thought McCain clearly won the first debate, both on performance and points. I thought McCain was righter than Obama in the second debate, but not as effective. Tonight, I thought he was about the same as the second debate, but higher stakes and more urgency made the performance more problematic.