Walking into what was touted as Kerry's territory of domestic issues, Bush came out of it handily. Bush looked good, sounded good, was aggressive with Kerry & had the substance to fend off Kerry's statistics & plans. Bush was the more affable & showed his typical sense of humor. Kerry sounded good, but looked less than good - was his left eye drooping? Kerry droned on too long in his answers, but he did have the wherewithal to throw out numbers, whether they were correct or not. Kerry was somewhat aggressive & his style was good, but no more so than Bush. Amazingly, Kerry managed to smile toward the end when he made a joke about marrying up.
Bush projected optimism, something Kerry never seems to express. Kerry stumbled in answering some questions, whereas Bush answered smoothly with detail.
But I think the average viewer will come away with the impression that, despite all the statistics & numbers & ideas & plans of both, they will feel more comfortable with Bush - that there is more of a connection with him than with Kerry. And so Bush has edged Kerry on this debate & "won". If Kerry was hoping that his debate would garner him more votes, then it fell short of expectations.
As an aside - I think Kerry was off base bringing up Cheney's daughter's sexuality. That is a private family matter. I think it was purposely meant as a snide remark by Kerry aimed at Cheney's Christian Right base, especially since he used the term "lesbian", rather than using the typical liberal parlance of "gay". An unwarranted dig by Kerry.
....from sea to shining sea