Final Presidential debate...

This was by far McCain's strongest showing - in my view as well as others (including Democrats).

I think McCain actually won this debate, in that he made more points, he was on the offense more, and he actually gave specifics (such as which government programs he would cut).
Obama was more eloquent (though he did stutter a bit as he was trying to phrase tough answers so as not to offend anyone) and survived.

In the end that may be all that matters - McCain didn't destroy Obama, thus he lost the event (not the debate, but the night).

Frank Luntz' ran a focus group as well during the debate. Most of the people in the group (all moderate undecideds) said Obama won, but only 4 out of 23 said they now supported Obama.
McCain's biggest points came when he told Obama "I am not George Bush, if you waned to run against George Bush you should have run four years ago."
For Obama it came when he highlighted how he hoped the atmosphere of the campaigns for the next few weeks should be.

Should be interesting to see how this plays - but I don't think McCain will get a large boost from this, but I don't think Obama will either.
The difference is though that McCain needed it, Obama didn't.

The first two debates...

Following the first Presidential debate, Obama has opened a large lead, both nationally and in many key battleground states.
The polls have now remained steady for a week - so the only conclusion I can reach is Obama did indeed win the first debate.

McCain did far better than I was anticipating, and it looked like point for point he got in more hits on Obama - but obviously the American audience disagreed.


Now, following the VEEP debate, I think McCain will rebound in the polls, at least moderately, if only until the next Presidential debate.

The reason's being are simple.
First, I think Obama is already above the real ceiling of support he can get, being around 50-51% steadily across several polls.
Second, nothing Palin did will have put off anyone who had not already written her off to begin with.
Third, Biden did nothing, in my opinion, to gain any kind of new support for Obama.

That leaves things to remain as they are, or go in the direction of McCain.

I think they will move in his direction, though, because it appears most people agree Palin won the debate. She appeared far more knowledgeable than most gave her credit for, and she was successful at attacking Obama/Biden several times.

Frank Luntz held a focus group during the debate that was split evenly between people who went for Kerry and Bush in 2004.
When asked who won the debate, all but, to my count, 3 or 4 people said it was Palin.
Also, the most well-received statement in this (or even in the first debate as well, if I recall correctly) came from Palin.

On the other hand, Luntz' focus group during the first debate gave Obama the win, as well as the best line.

Also, the response from Democrats, that I have seen, has been far more subdued this time than with the Presidential debate - which for me is a clear indicator of who really won.
A lot of them are saying she did absolutely nothing but avoid questions and get back to her talking points.
But that is also exactly what Biden did throughout.
Is it a good style - yes, and no.
I disagree with it because I would prefer to see more substance, but, it appears to work with people, and the sound-bytes play well in the media, so I'm not surprised.

So I think that without doubt, this will be reflected positively in the polls in a few days once they begin to register it.
It may disappear again with the next debate, but we will have to see.

Well done Governor Palin!