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The Democrats won their third straight debate last night, according to the opinion polls. Instant polls conducted by CNN, Fox and CBS found that most viewers felt Obama won the debate Tuesday evening.

That's not good news for John McCain, who is trailing in the national polls and behind in several key battleground states with less than a month to go before the election.

McCain came out swinging last night, attacking Barack Obama on taxes, Iraq, health care and energy policy, but Obama swung right back. In the end, neither candidate scored a "knockout punch," according to the pundits who scored the faceoff after the debate.

Debate Focused on Economy

Given the bad news with the economy, much of the debate focused on economic issues, and Senator McCain once again promised an across-the-board spending freeze, which Obama rejected as too broad. But McCain proposed $300 billion of new spending with a new proposal that the government should buy up bad mortgages.

When asked who they would appoint as a possible Treasury Secretary in their new administrations, McCain suggested Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay and Obama mentioned billionaire Warren Buffett, but neither candidate would commit to any particular nominee.

Clashed on Foreign Policy

One of the more heated exchanges took place on the issue of Pakistan, where McCain accused Obama of telegraphing U.S. intentions by announcing that he would invade Pakistan to fin Osama bin Laden. "You know, my hero is a guy named Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt used to say walk softly -- talk softly, but carry a big stick. Senator Obama likes to talk loudly," McCain said.

Minutes later, Obama shot back. "Senator McCain, this is the guy who sang, 'Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran,' who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don't think is an example of 'speaking softly,'" he said.

Obama also scored another hit with a response to McCain's suggestion that he doesn't understand fundamental issues in foreign policy. "It's true," Obama replied. "There are some things I don't understand. I don't understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, while Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda are setting up base camps and safe havens to train terrorists to attack us. That was Senator McCain's judgment and it was the wrong judgment," Obama said.

Few Character Attacks

Despite several days of character attacks on Barack Obama, Senator McCain last night chose not to mention William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright or any of the controversial figures that his campaign has tried to link to Obama in recent days.

McCain came under fire from critics after he used the phrase "that one" to describe Barack Obama, who McCain said had voted for an energy bill loaded with pork. "It was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney," McCain said. "You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one," McCain said as he pointed toward Obama. "You know who voted against it? Me," he said.  

The use of the term "that one" raised eyebrows among observers, who felt that McCain's comment was disrespectful.

The debate took place in a town hall style format, moderated by Tom Brokaw, and the audience members in Nashville addressed a wide range of issues, including Pakistan, global warming and America's committments abroad.

Candidates Connect With Voters and Audience

At one point, Senator McCain connected with an audience member who had served in the military by walking up to the man and putting his hand on his shoulder. The man then extended his arm and the two shook hands.

For his part, Obama may have connected with viewers when he spoke about health care reform. Asked if they thought health care was a privilege, a right or a responsibility, the candidates gave dramatically different answers. McCain described it as a responsibility but Obama said health care should be a right.

"I think it should be a right for every American. In a country as wealthy as ours, for us to have people who are going bankrupt because they can't pay their medical bills," Obama said. 

The Democratic presidential nominee described how his mother died of cancer at 53 years old and spent her last days worrying about her health care bills.

With just 27 days to go in the election, time is running out for McCain's campaign and next week he will get his final chance to beat Obama in a debate when the two candidates face off for their final time in New York.