Americans looking for a warrior in the White House surely warmed to GOP Senator John McCain’s scrappy debate performance Friday night.

But Democrat Barack Obama turned in the more statesmanlike effort. He was unflappable even under McCain’s often condescending attacks. While McCain went for punches, Obama scored points with sound arguments.

The debate was not a game changer. It is unlikely to be remembered for notable gaffes or flashes of brilliance by either candidate.

McCain drew upon his more than two decades in the Senate to display an intimate knowledge of many issues, particularly in the foreign affairs arena. Obama was superbly prepared, and showed none of the knowledge gaps that opponents had hoped for.

On Afghanistan and Pakistan, for example, Obama offered some thoughtful analysis and correctly argued that the Bush administration’s focus on Iraq — which McCain supports — had drawn needed resources away from the war on al-Qaida.

Obama said he would send additional troops to Afghanistan and put more pressure on Pakistan to clean out terrorist havens in that country. Both are sound ideas.

McCain’s discussion of that region was less impressive, eventually wandering off into a recitation of the various military operations that he had been involved in discussing at one time or another.

Neither candidate contributed much new material to the discussion of the proposed $700 billion financial bailout. In fact, both shied away from questions about whether they supported the bailout plan.

In the understatement of the night, Obama cautioned about the $700 billion: “We may not see that money for a while.”

McCain’s advantage over Obama is supposed to be in foreign policy and national security. Considering Obama’s polished performance and the fact that McCain didn’t land any knock-out blows, the evening could be considered a narrow victory for Obama.