With more than 20 minutes still to go in the October 16 presidential debate, the National Journal declared the town hall meeting between President Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney a “tie.”

From the Journal article, which bore the headline, “Who Won the Debate? Obama, Romney Tie in Presidential Showdown”:

Who won? The cheap answer is Obama because his goal following a catastrophically sluggish first debate was so clear: Show some life. And, indeed, the president aggressively criticized Romney, labeling him a hypocrite and a liar who favors the rich at the expense of the middle class and poor.

But Romney got his licks in, too, wrapping a miserable economy around the incumbent's neck. “The middle class is getting crushed by the policies of a president who does not understand what it takes to get the economy working again,” Romney said.

Bottom line: Call it a tie. Obama and Romney scored points while turning off independent voters with their point-scoring.