Last night's "Townhall" debate seemed anything but. McCain was flat and repetitive. Obama was less flat but pretty much repeated what he said in the first debate. All the questions were so scripted and all the answers so rehearsed that they seemed robotic.

There was no spontaneity. The lack of it was summed up at the very end when moderator Tom Brokaw had to ask both candidates to move so he could read his final comments off his teleprompter.

In all, it was a win for Obama. Being ahead in the polls he was the one who had the most to lose. But he was his cool, smooth usual self.

There were no major gaffes. Obama had one amusing malapropism. Rhetorically responding to the McCain charge that he was inexperienced, he called himself "green behind the ears."

His job was to make fence-sitting voters more comfortable with the prospect of an Obama presidency. That it wouldn't be the risk the McCain campaign has suggested. Once again, Obama succeeded on that score. He manages to sound quite moderate despite his very liberal voting record.

It's hard to believe either candidate is equipped to handle what they're going to face when one of them takes office in January. If the markets don't settle down by then, they certain won't react well to the billions in new taxes and spending proposed by an Obama Administration and a Democratic Congress. The likelihood that the "party of government" will make economic matters worse is very real.

Both candidates are proposing "change" and the American people say that's what they want. Change is coming, and the American people are about to get it, good and hard.