Guys, these debates are pretty much inconsequential.
this presidential election, like all others, will not be decided by 100% of the electorate. most of the electorate map has already been conceded to one party, or another (eg: california to the dems, texas to the Reps, etc). In reality, the entire campaign is ONLY about the few % of the electorate that is in the middle, and also happens to reside in a few key "battleground" states. the majority of dem voters will vote dem, even if mickey mouse is their candidate. and the majority of rep voters will vote rep, even if sarah palin is their candidate.
palin's job is NOT to capture these floating independent voters. The reason she was put on the rep ticket was because the hardline base of the rep party has always been uncomfortable with McCain. her presence was only intended to satisfy them. Its mcCain himself who is going to appeal to floating independents, not palin.
All that being said, in the end, "its the economy, stupid". Which rather sinks mccain.no matter which way you look at it. either by blaming reps for presiding over an economic crisis, or by looking at McCain, and his stumbling attempts at understanding economic issues (he admits he doesn't have much of a clue).
If osama bin ladin/al-queda sits still for the next 2 months, Obama wins.
__________________