Overall, the first Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina was uneventful. With eight candidates and limited time, answers were limited to short sound bites, and aside from a brief confrontation between Kucinich and Obama about the options on the table for Iran, there was little actual debate.

Most political junkies seem to agree that the front runners held their own but there were no major winners or losers. However, South Carolina debate watchers picked Obama as the clear winner, according to a SurveyUSA poll. When asked who won the debate, voters answered as follows:

• 31% Obama
• 24% Clinton
• 14% Edwards
• 2% Gravel
• 3% Kucinich
• 6% Biden
• 4% Richardson
• 2% Dodd
• 13% Not Sure

Obama was overwhelmingly favored among black voters and did three times better than Clinton and Edwards among independents. Obama tied with Clinton among Democrats who watched, and he tied with Edwards among Republicans.

When asked who lost, viewers were either not sure (20%) or picked Gravel (17%). No surprise there. What is interesting, however, is that Hillary was second behind Gravel at 12%. More people thought Hillary lost than Kucinich, Dodd, and the other long-shot candidates.