Washington, Oct. 8 : If McCain doesn''t quickly counter Barack Obama''s growing lead, the election will be over before November 4.

According to CBS, Obama walked away with a victory - and keeps the momentum solidly in his favor.

Most important for Obama, he went a long way to establishing his commander in chief credentials through impressive answers to national security questions on Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coming as polls show more people view him favorably as a leader, the debate should add to Obama''s lead in the key swing states.

Neither man was fully honest in explaining how the rapidly declining economy would shape their presidency.

But for now, Obama is the clear front-runner.

He used every question to blast Obama, but except for effective charges that Obama had never bucked his own party and would raise taxes, most of his attacks didn''t connect.

Obama was too cool at times and fumbled personal questions of economic anguish from audience members by giving rambling philosophical answers. But his eloquence and ability to be concise and clear on complicated topics made him look presidential at critical moments.

No matter. The reality is that the race boils down to two numbers - the stock market and the polls. For McCain, they are falling in tandem.

And with the GOP brand tarnished by the Bush legacy and with independents moving toward Obama, he now leads in nearly all battleground states, Florida and Ohio among them.

McCain has to win both to have a chance at 270 electoral votes. But when RealClearPolitics. com awarded all states to one side or another on the basis of recent polls, Obama is on course for a blowout win of 364 electoral votes.

Nothing happened last night to change that course. (ANI)