David Yepsen (DesMoines Register): Obama may be biggest debate winner

One of the big questions going into today¹s debate among the Democratic
presidential candidates in Iowa was whether Hillary Clinton can win the
November election.

That question still hangs over the race today. Clinton swatted at it with answers she¹s used before but she failed to conclusively knock it down.

After a string of strong debate performances so far in the campaign, Clinton seemed a little off her game at ABC-TVs gathering this morning.

(That may be understandable given that candidates had to get up around 4
a.m. in order to be at Drake University for the 8 a.m. program. The network
asked me to ask a few questions and afterwards Barack Obama pulled me aside
and said: "Let¹s do this again, but let¹s do it a little later in the day.")

But the Sunday sunrise nature of the event didn¹t stop some of the others from having strong performances. Obama may be the biggest winner.

He was in the cross hairs for much of the early part of the session and he stood up well to the scrutiny over his foreign policy positions and questions of whether he¹s qualified to be president.

Obama¹s campaign was quick to tout the results of a focus group held during the debate in which the participants tapped him as the best performer who eased concerns about his ability to do the job.

He came off as knowledgeable and temperate. He looked presidential and unlike some of his earlier, halting debate performances, was much more polished and laid back in this one. At one point he joked: "To prepare for this debate, I rode the bumper cars at the State Fair."