It would have been a shame if the first presidential debate had been postponed. The televised meeting between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama restored a sense of gravitas to the 2008 presidential campaign after a week in which it turned into a sideshow and after a month in which it threatened to descend into trivialities.

The crisis on Wall Street caused a brief detour in the schedule that called for the first debate to focus on foreign affairs. But despite the 48-hour sideshow that derailed the campaigns last week, McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Obama, Democrat of Illinois, expressed general agreement about the need for federal intervention in the financial markets.

Finding themselves in general agreement, the candidates took a few moments to attack each other's records on other financial matters: McCain attacking Mr. Obama's 932 requests for earmarked projects in Illinois, Obama retaliating with an attack on McCain's record of supporting tax breaks and loopholes for businesses.

But the meat of the debate was about their profoundly different views of the use of American force in Iraq and America's role in the world. Neither man said very much new, but people in the vast television audience who may be just starting to focus seriously on the presidential campaign no doubt found it instructive.

Obama opposed the war from the beginning and has called for a phased 16-month withdrawal of American forces. McCain supported the war from the beginning and was one of the earliest voices calling for additional troops and a change of strategy after Iraq descended into chaos after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

McCain repeated his pledge that "we will come home with victory and with honor." It remains to be seen how well that will play with an electorate that polls show is tired of the war and wants it over, but McCain earns points for consistency and may have scored with his direct, forceful approach.

But time and again, Obama reminded the audience that the war in Iraq took attention, troops and resources away from the mission against al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan — away from the search for the terrorists responsible for 9/11. "We took our eye off the ball, not to mention that we're still spending $10 billion a month and they (Iraq's government) have a $79 billion surplus."

McCain underscored his message by displaying a bracelet given to him by a mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who asked that her son's sacrifice not be in vain. Obama countered with his own bracelet-and-mother story, this one from a mother who asked that no other mother endure similar sorrow.

Foreign affairs was billed as McCain's strength, and he did not disappoint. He repeatedly stressed his edge in experience, his personal relationships with foreign leaders and his travel to other countries. "I looked into Mr. Russian prime minister Vladimir) Putin's eyes and I saw three letters - K.G.B.," he said in one of his best lines of the night.

Obama couldn't match the personal experience, so he emphasized the need to restore America's moral standing in the world, which he said had been diminished during eight years of President George W. Bush's administration. He may have scored his biggest debating point when he suggested that America's infatuation with Iraq had allowed al-Qaida terrorists to flourish in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "We have weakened our capacity to project power because of we have viewed everything through this single lens," he said.

Who "won" the debate is being spun vigorously by both sides; debates often are judged more on style and expectations than on debating points, and there McCain had a good night. Obama is the better public speaker, but McCain's plain-spoken style served him well Friday evening.

Those listening for nuance and grasp of detail may have favored Obama. Those who want toughness and certitude may give the nod to McCain. Neither man appeared to have changed the game, but after making a serious strategic mistake earlier at mid-week by grandstanding on the financial bailout, McCain may well have recouped his losses.

The debate capped an extraordinary week in presidential campaign history. Only once before, in 1932, have candidates run against a background of such apocalyptic financial gloom. Not even in 1944, with Americans at war on three fronts in two theaters, or in 1968, with 530 Americans each month dying in Vietnam, did outside events so threaten to overwhelm a campaign.

And rarely have party lines and positions seemed so skewed. An appeal for help for the financial markets from a Republican administration ran into opposition not from Democrats, but from Republicans in the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, as most Senate Republicans found common cause with the president and their Democratic colleagues, House Republicans staged an 11th-hour protest. This left the most prominent Senate Republican — McCain — fishing for a way to demonstrate his leadership of the party.

That's why his performance Friday night was so important to his campaign.

By saying on Wednesday he would suspend his campaign and suggesting that Friday night's debate be postponed, he gambled that he could return to Washington and be hailed as a consensus builder. But even his own party members treated him as a distraction. He flew into Oxford, Miss., on Friday and got back into the game.

Obama, by contrast, had the luxury of a party that generally is unified, not only behind his candidacy, but also in its response to the financial crisis. He played the week's events in a low-key manner, and for the most part stayed low-key in the first debate. He may want to crank it up a notch next time out.

The two candidates' responses to the week's events were as instructive as anything they said Friday night. McCain played it hot, looking in vain for the grand gesture, recovering his aplomb on Friday like an old warrior.

Obama played it cool. It served him well at mid-week, but perhaps not so well on Friday evening.

John McCain had a bad week and a good night. Barack Obama had a good week and an OK night. The election, like the financial markets, is still very much in play.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH.

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