The Joe and Ned Show

I watched the debate off C-SPAN's crappy streaming server. Joe was alternately boring and whiny, Ned was alternately boring and something (and his voice is about a fifth too high for me to take seriously). Others in blogworld have commented already on Joe's multiple uses of Old Dutch's "there you go again", so let me just say that yes, it's very jarring. Even for someone who thinks of JL as an undercover agent for the GOP, you just don't expect a Democratic candidate to say something like that.

Those who thought it was a clear victory for either party are letting their bias guide their judgement. It was basically a tossup, maybe 52-48 in favor of JL. The fundmental problem is that Ned's neither a wonk nor a charismatic leader/speaker. For all his failings, JL's definitely a wonk. And while his debating technique is piss-poor, Ned's is just that crappy modern non-debate debate technique where you repeat your talking points and catch phrases.

I think JL shored up the primary vote with this, their only debate. I'd love to see him gone daddy gone, but it's not going to happen in this election.