Chris Christie called it.
Mitt Romney outran the incumbent, ran all over the moderator and ran away with the first debate of the presidential campaign Wednesday.
Romney appeared tightly wound, but ready to rumble; Barack Obama seemed prepared to deliver a civics lecture, circa 2008; and the venerable Jim Lehrer just looked vulnerable.
But a even a moderator better prepared to control the flow wouldn't have facilitated a better performance by the president, whose discursive wonkiness played poorly in contrast to Romney's can-do directness.
The Republican challenger's slightly manic but effective energy underscored the listlessness of Obama, whose loss of the coin toss left him to speak first and Romney with the final word.
Which pretty much summed up the evening.