Compared to a jittery McCain, Obama looked cool and presidential during the final debate. He seemed calm and responded to the personal attacks with a line of facts. McCain came off as crazy.

I think it’s clear Obama won.

Yet I still worry about the Bradley effect - that sneaky predisposition that makes voters SAY they’d vote for a black candidate, but makes them actually vote otherwise. At an MTV forum on the election a couple days ago, the point was made that the percentage of voters who say they’re undecided is equal to or greater than Obama’s lead. Democrats haven’t won yet.

If you yourself are still undecided - and there are only 19 days to go - then I hope you paid particular attention to what they said about judges. Obama very strongly believes that people have a right to privacy that can’t be overturned by referendum - that, in fact, Americans have certain rights that cannot be overturned by a majority.

I believe that. And I believe that the fact that Americans have a right to privacy is one of the fundamental arguments that will win our right to federal marriage, the end of employment discrimination and the military ban, and the extension of our full civil rights.

The good news is that the debate was entertaining television.

Unlike last time, both candidates moved from their stump speeches into an actual conversation about political issues.

And surprisingly, McCain looked in control of the questions and often ended answers with good sound bites. It seemed like Obama was hanging back, letting McCain throw a few punches.

Spending was a perfect example of this. McCain accused Obama of increasing spending, repeated his mantra of a spending freeze and then outlined programs to help schools and create walk-in clinics, all of which cost money.

Obama barely pointed this contradiction out.

Obama’s passivity was particularly problematic when it came to the discussion of Ayers and Acorn. He allowed, even encouraged, time spent on those issues. It wasn’t smart politics and it didn’t help him in the overall debate score.

The truth is, this kind of analysis would have mattered if McCain hadn’t been so immature. He often breathed loudly, made sickening smiles, blinked in disbelief…  I can’t list them all.

He even rolled his eyes.

For voters, especially women voters, this kind of activity is alienating and distracts from any issue debate.

At the end of the day, McCain may have won on the content of the debate. He didn’t win by enough mind you, but he very well might have ended up ahead.

The problem is that he only managed to annoy voters and made this writer, who has never held a negative feeling to McCain personally, feel quite angry towards the man.

If he wants to appear measured and experienced, tonight was a failure. Plain and simple.

For days I have been listening to BBC and NPR reports about how we dodged a bullet on the credit crisis. One BBC reporter even credited the British Prime Minister with saving the world by encouraging bailouts across Europe and the United States.

But then today, the Dow is back down and economic hardships still loom.

Can we make up our minds?