"Ahead in the polls, Barack Obama used last night's debate to portray himself as a nonradical if vague agent of change. Despite John McCain's best efforts, the Arizona Senator didn't knock Mr. Obama from his cool evasion or even do much to rebut the Democrat's routine talking points. This isn't enough to change the dynamics of the race. Not that Mr. McCain didn't have opportunities. The Illinois Democrat made his by now familiar claim that eight years of 'deregulation' caused the current panic, but Mr. McCain never challenged him to explain what policies he's referring to. Bill Clinton debunked the deregulation line the other day on the public record, but the Republican never mentioned that. Mr. McCain did make a stab at hanging the failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac around Mr. Obama, but without any real explanation for why they mattered or how they represent Washington's status quo... One of Mr. Obama's gifts is his ability to glide over contradictions with the greatest of ease. He spent minutes explaining that we spend '$10 billion a month' in Iraq that should be spent here in the U.S. But a short time later he was promoting what sounded like a surge in Afghanistan, and vowing to spend even more money to assist 'the economies' of Eastern Europe. He also proposes to provide free health care while claiming he'd cut more spending from the overall budget than his new ideas would cost. If Mr. McCain lets that last claim go unrebutted, he deserves to lose." ---The Wall Street Journal