I didn't live-blogging tonight's debate, but I noticed the 25 year age gap as never before.

I'm worried that current economic problems favor youth, for reasons that are neither fully understood, nor rational.

The conventional wisdom is that it hurts McCain:

Many see the 25-year age gap as McCain's greatest vulnerability. It's what Obama is not so subtly reminding you of when he calls this election a choice between "the past and the future."

Obama is younger, but he's also greener in terms of experience. McCain is old, but he's incredibly energetic and vibrant. Almost crackling with energy. To see a younger man on the ropes (as Ann Athouse said, "I think McCain is getting to him") against a much older man says a lot about the stamina of the older man.

While McCain is the oldest so far, Republicans candidate are almost always older than the Democratic candidates. With the exception of Hubert Humphrey in 1968, they have been older than Democrats in every race since 1952 1948 (when the older Harry Truman defeated the younger Tom Dewey).

This is not to say that it's about age, but I don't think the age factor hurts McCain as much as some people think.

Glenn Reynolds noticed that "McCain looked like he was having a better time than Obama" and "Obama's smirking was unattractive." Considering a 25 year age gap, I like the fact that McCain has a more attractive smirk.

Anyway, I thought McCain won, although I wish he'd pushed back harder on Ayers. While but should'ves are easy, I think he should have spelled out why it was important, without getting emotional. (Obama accused him of making Ayers the central issue of the campaign, which indicated defensiveness on Obama's part and gave McCain a great opportunity.)

So I think McCain won, and Obama held his own as best he could. But I agree with Glenn that Joe the Plumber stole the show.

MORE: FWIW, I like the way McCain slammed big government. I'm very nervous about the country's slide towards socialism, which is tempting, but a terrible mistake. I'm glad McCain has the maturity to recognize the problem.

MORE: As I was reminded below, Truman defeated Dewey in 1948, not 1952.

Correction noted.

UPDATE: Jennifer Rubin has an excellent debate recap, and so does Glenn Reynolds.

Finally, even though I like him, at the risk of sounding wildly partisan, I must refuse to endorse Joe the Plumber.

MORE: England is talking about the star of the debate!

in the end, the real star of the third and final presidential debate was neither John McCain nor Barack Obama but a small town plumber called Joe.

Joe Wurzelbacher from Toledo, Ohio, has become an unlikely media star after finding himself the focus of the debate between the two White House rivals.

He is a tradesman who has worked 12-hour shifts for years and now plans to buy his own small plumbing business. The trouble for Joe the plumber is that this would take his earnings to more than $250,000 - making him a target of Obama's plan to tax the wealthy.

MORE: Here's Dick Morris:

Finally, John McCain came out swinging. In his feisty, aggressive style, he scored key points on spending and taxes. Coherent in a way that he has not been in previous debates, McCain repeatedly turned Obama's spending plans against the Democratic candidate. The continued invocation of Joe the Plumber brought a populist edge to the tax issue that it has lacked since Ronald Reagan.

[...]

McCain has now established the tax issue in a way he has not been able to do so far in the contest. Now he can widen the gap between the campaigns on this key issue. If the Republicans concentrate their campaign on the key issue of taxes and abandon the other lines of attack, they can use the lines developed in this debate to do better and better as Election Day nears.