The punches were all above the belt last night. But last night's debate did little to help John McCain, whose campaign is staring into an abyss with less than a month to go.

There were no dustups. Nothing changed the game and there were no major gaffes for Saturday Night Live to run with. Barack Obama and McCain kept hitting each other's weak points, but we've heard it all before. The gloves stayed on, but in this case, the tie goes to Obama.

Energy, health care, the economy and foreign policy dominated the discussion. Specifics were on display, almost to a fault. The town-hall format allowed each candidate to roam the stage and field questions directly from voters.

McCain, wooden at first, loosened up a half-hour in, tossing around jokes and quipping with moderator Tom Brokaw, who tried in vain to crack the whip on response time limits.

McCain went after Obama aggressively from the outset, trying to warn voters about the Illinois senator. "He'll impose mandates," he warned of Obama's health care plan. "He'll fine you."

Pre-debate speculation was on how hard McCain would attack, given his slippage in national and swing state polling. His campaign has said they want to show the world "the real Barack Obama" and McCain outright called him a liar this week.

He jabbed at Obama early, calling him the second highest recipient in history of donations from mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. He touted his record as a reformer, attempting to paint Obama as hyper-partisan, but sometimes came off like a kindergartner whose candy was taken away.

He did try to lighten the mood a few times, but his humor fell mostly flat. A health care joke about hair transplants was met with crickets. The funniest moment of the night was at the very end, when both candidates, leaping from their chairs, got in the way of Brokaw's teleprompter.

Obama responded to each attack, but the former college professor sounded like he was giving a lecture at times, especially during discussion about health care.

Obama touted cracking down on insurance companies. He used the "hatchet vs. scalpel" line about his and McCain's different approaches to curbing spending in Washington, D.C. McCain has repeatedly called for an "across the board" spending freeze "except for veteran's benefits and a few select programs."

On a day the Dow plunged 500 points, Obama said the government must make sure the bailout works, fix health care and become energy independent. McCain called for the government to buy up bad home loans and re-negotiate at the diminished value.

Obama got in a tough moment on foreign policy.

"We will kill bin Laden, we will crush al Qaeda," he declared. "That has to be our biggest national priority."

Noticeably absent from the debate was the use of the word "Maverick." McCain didn't mention it once.

The closing question was a bit zen: What don't you know and how will you learn it? Obama: expect the unexpected. McCain: keep a steady hand at the tiller.

The voters for the town hall format were chosen by the Gallup Organization: a third of the them supposedly undecided, a third leaning McCain and the final third leaning Obama.

The last of the presidential debates is scheduled for Oct. 15 at Hofstra University on Long Island.

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