In my opinion, neither of them were winners. I am not particularly satisfied with Obama, and when I learned that Romney was going to be the Republican candidate my first thought was "Canada's sounding nicer and nicer these days..."
I don't care about Romney's tone, and his plans aren't all that feasible. I don't get the impression that he cares about the nation, more so simply furthering his own career, getting endorsements from large corporations, and gaining more power. He is the Republican candidate because he has a heaping pile of money - not because he's competent or a good choice for the job. Doing alright in one debate isn't going to change that.
So yeah, in my opinion they're both losers, and it's a competition between crap and poo. I still favor Obama a little more, but that's only because Romney's so godawful. That's probably one of the reasons people think he did well in the debate, because almost anything's better than how he has carried himself throughout the campaign.
True, the presidency is only one small part of what makes this nation run, but I'd prefer it if such an integral part of the greater whole weren't broken, and the presidency seems to be "broken." Even a good third party candidate doesn't mean anything, because they don't have a chance of getting elected.
Obama vs. Romney? Like I said, Canada.