In previous debates the ones that were seen as more rude have typically been viewed as losing. Gore in 2000, Bush's first debate in 2004, etc. So I'm not certain letting Biden interrupt him once per minute was really a bad strategy.

Oh sure. Agreed. Just by performing competently, if not spectacularly, he steadied the Dem ship. Where as Ryan had to perform at a much higher level then he did to achieve the same effect with Republicans. Ryan did OK but it won't move the needle for Republicans really.

The real story though is how independents are receiving the debate. That should be interesting.

One thing to pay attention to is the wording of the polls too. Ones that ask "Who did you think won?" are asking completely different questions than "After watching the debate who are you most likely to vote for?"

Of course we might both be wrong. CNBC twitter insta-polls is showing a definite lead in Ryan's favor, for what those polls are worth.

https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/256584306443554817

I dunno, you turn around and have a CBS poll that gives undecideds 50 Biden, 31 Ryan, and 19 Undecided.

From the link

The "uncommitted voters" who participated in this poll are either undecided or have chosen a candidate but say they could still change their minds. They are less likely than voters overall to identify with either of the two major political parties: 58 percent call themselves independents, 17 percent identify as Republicans, and 25 percent say they are Democrats.

That poll has 50% more Democrats than Republicans FWIW.

Well...nobody is claiming these things are scientific. Or at least I hope not. It'll take at least a day to sort out the reactions in a better fashion.

I assume the article I took this off fetched it from TV as there was no links to the polls themselves.

Good news if these numbers reflect reality. Biden's performance worked well for his base because they wanted a viceral take-down (such as it was) to redeem Obama. But if these numbers hold then it didn't translate so well for independents and Republicans.