Tonight, the presidential candidates went toe-to-toe for the final time.  I thought McCain did better than his previous debates, but still didn\’t set the world on fire.  Whatever.  I\’ve always thought that at the end of debates, the moderator should actually declare a winner, who would then get to hold a giant championship belt over their head while the loser trash talked them, pro-wrestling style.

What is really important is that I actually found myself watching the debate on CNN, with the little squiggly lines at the bottom of the screen tracking what some \”independent\” voters were thinking at the time.  And I was actually yelling out loud at the lines as they tracked across the screen.  For instance, I noticed that McCain didn\’t get much of a bump from women voters when he was talking about school choice.  \”JESUS CHRIST, WOMEN!\” I could be heard to exclaim.

It\’s also important to figure out whether there\’s a time delay in the graph lines.  Like, McCain would make a good point, and I\’d sit and wait to see if there\’s a lag… and there would be no bump… and I\’d get mad.  You know half the guys are sitting in this room trying to get some action from the \”undecided\” woman next to them, so they move the dial whenever she does, just to go with the flow.  Meanwhile, I\’m at home violently shifting to one side or the other just trying to coax the line up a little bit with some body language.

Also, what\’s up with McCain scribbling furiously whenever Obama starts talking?  What is he writing?  I fully expected him to hold up his notepad at the end of the debate to reveal a sketch of Sarah Palin riding a dolphin or something.

One final important note – even when Obama is clean shaven, he still has the faint hint of a mustache going.  If he gets elected, he just needs to let nature take its course and free the \’stache.  Now THAT would be a change I can believe in.