New York - The McCains and the Obamas moved about the stage separately for a little while after their debate, greeting people on the stage, but not each other. Then John McCain tapped Barack Obama's back briefly and Obama turned and reached his hand out. Rather than shaking it, McCain directed him to his wife, Cindy.
If it was not clear on TV, photos showed that the two men did shake hands after Tuesday's contest. But that awkward physical moment highlighted a reality that viewers were reminded of repeatedly on Tuesday evening: There's no love lost between these two men.
And it was McCain, slipping in the polls and increasingly on the attack in recent days, who appeared to have far more trouble concealing his apparent distaste for his opponent. He even began the evening with a dig.
"Senator Obama, it's good to be with you at a town hall meeting," McCain said. Obama declined to participate in town hall settings with McCain earlier in the race.
And then there was the comment, likely to be much remarked upon, about Obama's vote on an energy bill. "You know who voted for it?" McCain asked, thrusting his finger in Obama's direction but not looking at him. "That one."
It was a comment that could be interpreted several ways - harmless, offensive, merely annoying - but it bothered Tim Groeger, an undecided voter from Morristown, New Jersey.
"I didn't feel that was very professional," said Groeger, 28, an accountant. "I felt McCain was very aggressive. Obama seemed to stay cool and collected."
Candidates showed a lot more of themselves
And yet Groeger said he remained split between the candidates, and had not heard enough specifics from Obama. "I feel like Obama has these ideas that sound great, but he hasn't really gone into enough detail for me," Groeger said.
More than in the previous presidential debate, body language proved telling on Tuesday night, and it reflected the status of the race: a contest transformed by the economic crisis, with Obama ahead in the polls and McCain and his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, stepping up the attacks in a vigorous effort to shift the momentum.
With no lecterns, just chairs upon which to perch while the other was speaking, the candidates showed a lot more of themselves. Obama strolled the stage while speaking, while McCain seemed to pace it. And Obama sat generally still when McCain was talking, while his opponent scribbled notes more frequently, his notebook spilling over the small table.
With the physical contrast - and their obvious age difference - more pronounced in this setting, it seemed apt that one of the only humorous bits touched upon that gap between the 47-year-old Obama and the 72-year-old McCain: a quip by McCain that he might need hair transplants.
Though McCain's demeanour was more aggressive, Obama engaged in his share of digs - this was not the "I agree with John" Obama of the previous debate.
"This is a guy who sang bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, who called for the annihilation of North Korea," he said during a foreign policy discussion. And at another point: "I've gotta correct a little bit of Senator McCain's history, not surprisingly."
And he did not let the "he just doesn't understand" argument go unanswered this time - yes, he said, there were indeed things he didn't understand, like how one could invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.
'I came in 50-50, and I'm leaving 50-50'
Both men tried their very hardest to prove to the undecided voters onstage - and more importantly, at home - that they felt their economic pain. How can we trust either of you, asked one blunt onstage voter, Teresa Finch.
"I can understand your frustration and your cynicism," Obama said.
"Teresa, thank you. I can see why you feel that cynicism," McCain said.
As for the town-hall format, a setting McCain enjoys, it hardly felt like a town hall at all. The questions had been selected by moderator Tom Brokaw beforehand, and once they were asked, never was the questioner heard from again. The onstage voters seemed more like bit players in a show than actual participants.
Clearly there was no way of knowing if the debate had changed any of their opinions. If they were anything like Rani Rosborough, an undecided voter who watched from home in University Park, Maryland, then, well, it did not.
"I did think Obama commanded the attention better," said Rosborough, a registered Republican. "And I'm displeased with these negative attacks and comments toward Obama. On the campaign trail, as well, Senator McCain and Governor Palin seem to be engaging in more personal attacks."
On the other hand, she said, "I came in 50-50, and I'm leaving 50-50. These debates are not very substantial. There are lots of statements made, but not much supporting them with facts.
US Elections Special Report
