A good night for Putin and those damn emails

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Aaron David Miller is a vice president and distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and author of "The End of Greatness: Why America Can't Have (and Doesn't Want) Another Great President." Miller was a Middle East negotiator in Democratic and Republican administrations. Follow him on Twitter @aarondmiller2. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

In the cruel and unforgiving foreign policy world of migraine headaches the next President is almost certain to inherit, which candidate would be better equipped to lead the nation? And what did Wednesday night's battle of the would-be commander in chiefs tell us about their views on national security issues that we didn't already know? Here are some key takeaways.

Same old, same old

Sure, time was short and it's hard to do justice to complex foreign policy issues in a rushed half hour per candidate format. Understandably most of the questions were focused on issues relating to veterans. But it's striking how many serious foreign policy issues weren't covered. Indeed, instead of asking tough questions on China, nuclear weapons, under what conditions would a candidate use force, NBC chose to play off the same thoroughly politicized and well-worn themes: support for the Iraq war and Clinton's emails. There was very little that was productive or new. 

Inevitably, the Clinton email issue was going to surface, particularly in a military audience familiar with classified material and the vigorous enforcement of the rules to protect it. Clinton admitted her mistakes in handling her emails, but her answers were lawyerly and technical and not the best way for her to have to open her segment. Indeed, the email issue in the forum was to some extent moderated by the fact that the two candidates weren't on the stage together and the discussion was courteous and relatively brief. That will definitely not be the case during the presidential debates.