Deficit talk
Obama, on the deficit, has focused on his promise to pay for all of the proposals that he is offering (a noble proposition, I know.) To do this, he says that he needs to go after programs that don't work and make them more effective or cut them.
McCain, on the other hand, is continuing his attack on Obama. Schieffer is not biting though, and he is hammering McCain on not really answering his questions. McCain finally mentioned pork and earmarks 19 minutes through the debate, the latest out of all three of the debates.
Schieffer seems to be the most impressive of the three people on the stage so far. He is going after both these candidates and not letting them avoid his questions. This is a clear difference from Brokaw, who was obsessed about the timing of the debate.