My friends called me about making plans to watch the presidential debate with all the enthusiasm we normally save for deciding where to watch the Packers game.

Moderator Jim Lehrer added to the football mentality when he laid the ground rules: there was a coin toss to decide who would speak first (Obama won the toss). But the crowd would not be a factor, as Lehrer declared no crowd noise would be allowed.

But the pre-game excitement was soon replaced by ennui. It was a lackluster debate.

Both candidates displayed their strengths and weaknesses, but if I had to pick a winner, I'd give it to McCain.

With his blue suit and ghastly candy cane tie, McCain sought to assure voters that his experience makes him the better candidate. He brought up Ronald Reagan several times, to remind Americans of his length of service in the Senate. He mentioned his ability to reach across the aisle to work with Democrats, and took a stab atObama, saying he was so far left, it would be impossible for Obama to do this.

I don't think McCain ever mentioned President Bush by name. And his tripping over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's name made McCain seem prickly. He tried to make several jokes, and one eventually got the audience to laugh.

Obama tried to frame the terms as judgment versus record. The gist: McCain may have a long record, but he's been wrong about a lot of things, too.

The first question was about the economy and here Obama was strongest. The current crisis is the "final verdict of eight years of failed economic policies" of President Bush and supported by McCain. "Prosperity doesn't trickle down," Obama said. Meanwhile, McCain kept repeated he'd declare a "spending freeze."

Both contenders rambled a bit too much but each said something unexpected.

Obama said he was for missile defense. (I didn't know that.)

McCain said he'd like to form a "League of Democracies" to pressure Iran with economic sanctions. Sounds like a runaround the UN Security Council. But, really, what would the "League of Democracies" be? Sounds a bit like a rip off of the comic book series "Justice League."

Of course, each candidate twisted the record of his opponent and exaggerated his own. The Washington Post tracked them.

John McCain said he began questioning the Iraq War strategy in 2003, which is true. He said in November 2003 that more troops should be sent. But his walking around a Baghdad market in April 2007, guarded by more than a hundred soldiers, and declaring that things were getting better, painted him more as a backer of the Bush Administration's disastrous war policy.

McCain went after Obama for not holding hearings on Afghanistan and for never visiting the country. Obama said his Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee doesn't have oversight of Afghanistan, which is true. But his subcommittee does have oversight over NATO, so he could have held hearings.

Both ended the night telling their competing narratives. (It's about narratives, not policy, remember?) Barack Obama spoke about his Kenyan father wanting to go to school in the United States and his dream coming true. Suddenly, Rudy Giuliani's performance at the RNC popped into my head. The former mayor of New York mocked Obama's lack of experience and said Obama's rise could happen "only in America."

Unsurprisingly, McCain fell back to his favorite storyline: he was a POW. (I was wondering if he could make it through the debate without mentioning this.) He's a maverick, too.

We'll have to wait til the polls come out to see if independent voters were persuaded by either candidate. I'm not sure Obama's performance sold anybody who is actually full of fear about terrorists coming here.

This humdrum debate makes the Vice Presidential one even more appealing. Sarah Palin and her talking points versus the garrulous Joe Biden will make for a great match up.