Barack Obama

All eyes were on him for the first answer of the debate as he was invited to attack Clinton (a challenge cleverly disguised as a question). But he cluttered his response with too many of his (unfortunate) trademark "uhs" and a rehearsed Rocky joke, and glanced nervously over at Clinton to gauge the effects of his soft swipe. Gained strength as the debate progressed (and as Edwards and the others joined the Clinton hunt). Had his finest moment — and nearly lived up to the press corps' lust for attack — when he addressed the controversy of sealed documents at the Clinton Library and the Senator's long, divisive history. Offered powerful responses denouncing fear and celebrating diplomacy but likely appealed more to his existing supporters than to potential new recruits. In the final moments, he knocked the daffy-but-intriguing UFO question out of the park by focusing on the importance of life on earth.

—by Mark Halperin