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Who won? If it was a draw, that's good for Obama, because he has momentum and because foreign policy was supposed to be his weak suit. A draw keeps the old narrative frozen in place, which was that Obama was slightly ahead and possibly gaining.
For me, the dominant impression was one of generational change. McCain was the irritated Dad being forced to hand over the reins of the family business to his inexperienced son, who doesn't "understand" the intricacies of the business. This is a story we're all familiar with, and I think the son is usually the hero of the story, so the narrative is likely to benefit Obama more than McCain. Still, a lot will depend on how the press chooses to remember the debate. That will condition our own recollections.
Or here's another story: the cerebral, young, self-confident black professor moves into the neighborhood, and the grumpy old guy next door is not pleased about it. He won't even look the professor in the eyes let alone say something congenial or give him the lowdown on the gophers tearing up the professor's lawn. By the end of the hour, though, he begins to truly "hear" the professor, accepts him as his "son," and they've both "learned something." In this story of racial and generational friction with a warm-hearted ending, the black guy is ultimately the hero, as in the earlier story.
Looked at in these ways, the debate must have been a small plus for Obama, even though we were disappointed that he refused to throw any knock-out punches, despite plenty of opportunity. If he had done that, another familiar story would have clicked into place, and Obama might not have been the hero of that one.
I may be crazy, but I think Obama outsmarted the old guy. We'll see in the fullness of time.
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