"First Thoughts"

MSNBC's First Read:

Obama: ...(snip) Obama has really improved from his earlier performances -- he's much better answering questions in 60 seconds, and he did a very good job tonight of getting key parts of his biography in his answers. Perhaps more importantly, he unanimously won the post-debate instant-polls. Why did Obama do so much better in the various focus groups, but Clinton did better among the pundits? It's realism vs. idealism on display. While the chattering class watches these debates with an eye on the general election, many of us may very well underestimate the pull of idealism among Democratic primary voters. Also, Obama may have also done better in the focus groups, because the last 30 minutes of the debate was his strongest -- and last impressions can have a greater influence on these people.

Obama also got "the most favorable in terms of the best performance" from the 24 people in CNN's focus group.