Over at The Corner at National Review Online, the bloggers may have persuaded themselves by now that Bush was the hands-down winner, but they weren't exactly dancing in the aisles last night:

EMBRYOS, JUDGES [Rick Brookhiser]
By not being sufficiently moral, Bush gave a weak answer on embryos. And does he expect Dred Scot to be relitigated?
Posted at 10:27 PM

LOTS OF READERS [Jonah Goldberg]
Keep telling me Bush is winning, kicking butt etc. I just don't see that. If you imagine you're a swing voter it's at best a draw so far, I think.
Posted at 10:07 PM

THE STARBUCKS PLOT [Rod Dreher]
OK, who dosed Bush with the double extra-shot latte? This is not going well. Not. Going. Well. I'm beginning to think that it might be a good idea to call up Berlitz and brush up on my college French. If Bush doesn't get it together, it could come in handy over the next four years.
Posted at 09:51 PM

SAD TO SAY [John Hillen]
Kerry is rolling. He just rolled in the deficit issue on the back of the Medicare question. He’s systematically – and smoothly running through his repertoire. The President is on the back foot but has plenty of time to come back if he can pull it together.
Posted at 09:49 PM

"WHY ARE WE SAFE?" [Michael Graham]
This is the test question for Bush. He must win this one. He got it done, but just barely.
Posted at 09:45 PM

TGIF [Ramesh Ponnuru]
is all I can say.
Posted at 09:43 PM

NICE POINT RE ALLIANCES [Rick Brookhiser]
But W should have mentioned Australia. Kerry's Missouri response was effective.
Posted at 09:43 PM

WHY DOES BUSH... [Jonah Goldberg]
Sound like he's angry at the guy asking about making drugs cheaper?
Posted at 09:41 PM

KERRY TONIGHT [Jonathan H. Adler]
Kerry is clear, articulate and forceful. If all I knew about him was what I saw tonight, I'd be a big fan. The key for the Bush camp will be to point out that the WashU Kerry is not the same person as Senator Kerry or Democratic primary Kerry.
Posted at 09:41 PM

"Unmanned Ve-hick-uls" [Rick Brookhiser]
Come and listen to mys tory bout a man named Jed,

Poor mountaineer barely kep his family fed...
Posted at 09:36 PM

ANOTHER MISS [Rick Brookhiser]
Bush doesn't bring up the bribed frogs yet again. A constraint of power? Also, his answers seem too short.
Posted at 09:27 PM

INTERNATIONAL POPULARITY [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Bush did alright on that one, although that opening line about his decisions causing people to misunderstand American values was not so good. Kerry's hitting him hard on the no-exit-strategy stuff right now, though, even though it has little to do with the question.
Posted at 09:22 PM

IRAN, NORTH KOREA, IRAQ [John Derbyshire]
The President did not answer the question, which is on a lot of people's minds: Why was Iraq so much more invasion-worthy than Iran or North Korea?
Posted at 09:20 PM

UGH [Ramesh Ponnuru]
I don't think Bush has even made the flip-flop charge stick tonight, and it's practically incontrovertible. Kerry, meanwhile, has hit Bush unanswered on jobs, and health care--also on lying, although Bush gave an implicit answer. Kerry's barely been answered on rushing to war. Bush mentioned "$87 billion" without explaining the reference. So far, so bad.
Posted at 09:16 PM

WELL THIS ISN'T A GREAT START [Ramesh Ponnuru]
Awfully reminiscent of the last debate, no?
Posted at 09:08 PM

OK, I'll admit, I cherry-picked these. The NRO folks still hate Kerry and love Bush. But I'm not sure they think Bush is the best possible representative of Bushism.