In the last half hour they were competing against "Corner Gas" on the other station so it was tough hanging in.
Both sides probably gave their constituencies what they wanted.
It's really about whether or not they managed to sway undecideds to one side or the other.
Unlike the first debate where there were obvious body language issues for Bush, which probably sank him as much as anything else, I thought there was nothing that stood out in this case, both delivering exactly what you would have expected.
Whereas the universal concensus is that Kerry won the opening debate, even among many Republicans, both sides watching this debate will likely claim they won and both sides will have a point as their candidates weren't flustered and were "on message."
Because Cheney was under a lot of pressure to stand in there and went after Kerry pretty good, scoring the points that Bush didn't, whereas Edwards appeared to be in the business of reinforcing the Kerry talking points, I'd probably give it to Cheney.
Cheney had a lot of ground to make up after the Bush performance last week and I thought he was successful in restoring some equilibrium for his side.
Cowperson