The rough consensus on last night's Democratic debate is that Barack Obama stumbled, Hillary Clinton appeared solid, Edwards gently swiped at both and the others improved their standings.

The New York Times' Adam Nagorney and Jeff Zeleny write that Clinton and Obama didn't tangle at all so it "fell to their rivals to take cuts at them, and even those were modest." Edwards said Clinton's 2002 Iraq vote is between her and her conscience, and he "obliquely suggested" that Obama hadn't offered much substance on health care, saying that "highfalutin language is not enough."

The Politico's Ben Smith reports that Obama was asked to name America's three major allies, and he "embarked on a world tour, naming the European Union and Japan and trailing off into a discussion of China." Moderator Brian Williams said, "I didn't hear you mention Israel," which shoved Obama "into a patch of political quicksand."

Obama assured Williams that Israel is an all and then responded to the question of how to deal with simultaneous terror attacks by saying first that there should be an effective emergency response and second, good intelligence. This left Clinton and Edwards to respond with more sharply military tones. "I think a president must move as swiftly as is prudent to retaliate," Clinton said.

The Des Moines Register's David Yepsen focused more on candidates' style, writing that Clinton "seemed disjointed in some of her answers, though her admission that she made a mistake in the way she handled health care as first lady was refreshing." Yepsen continues, "One wonders why she just doesn't do the same with her vote for the Iraq war, to get that issue behind her." Edwards seemed "blindsided and lost when asked who his moral leader was" and kept taking questions and digs over his $400 haircut, a "misstep that threatens to erode his carefully built claim to be the champion of the poor."

Yepsen writes that by contrast, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Bill Richardson gained ground: Dodd by giving crisp answers, Biden by saying only "Yes" when asked if he could discipline his famously verbose mouth as president, and Richardson by showing his humorous side.

Time's Karen Tumultry would disagree, writing that none those three managed what they were hoping for, which was a badly needed breakout moment and the top tier did "little to hurt or help themselves." The show-stealer seems to have been former Alaska Senator and NYC cab driver Mike Gravel who said he would make it a felony for the U.S to stay in Iraq and that Osama bin Laden was "rolling in his blankets" with joy over the invasion and a number of other zingers that left the audience in stitches.

The Politico's Roger Simon writes that the field won because a number of Democratic voters probably looked at a number of the candidates and thought they could be president, which "doesn't narrow the field, but it is a little early to narrow the field."

NBC News political director Chuck Todd writes that South Carolina is still not yet the "decisive primary" in Democratic politics like it is for the GOP, partially because there's no bipartisan cooperation among the state's parties to work for a better calendar date. Still, Democrats have focused on the state: Clinton and Obama because of the large portion of black voters in the primary, Edwards because he was born there and both Biden and Richardson have concentrated resources there.

John McCain was also in South Carolina yesterday where he said pulling out of Iraq could produce an "international crisis" that would draw in the U.S. McCain also reiterated his call for Attorney General Gonzales to resign and touched on reforming immigration and entitlements. At another stop in the state, "Barbara Anne" played as his theme song after he sang "Bomb, Bomb, Iran" to its tune earlier this month. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney pointed out that McCain and Rudy Giuliani's changes on positions to defend his own changes.

Get these and today's other elections stories at RCP's Politics and Elections page.