10:34: So, that's it then? Very much like the first debate -- solid, steady, a tad boring if you've been following the race closely for the last year. No gaffes that I know of, which is pretty amazing for the variety of ground that they covered. McCain gets some bonus points for floating a new proposal on home mortgages; it will be interesting to see what the experts say, while Obama tried to channel anti-Wall Street rage by saying he's fire the AIG execs. Overall, I really think Obama wants to run out the clock -- it was three yards and a cloud of dust on most of the questions. McCain took the predictable path and didn't bring up the "terrorist's best friend" stuff.

As noted earlier, how they handle the economic crisis will define the winner's early presidency. And how will they handle it? Who knows?

Going to write my story for the newspaper now.

10:30: Obama: His grandmother was "scrimpin'". How Palin-esque. He should have winked. Decent answer, even though I don't think it has anything to do with the question he was asked (what he doesn't know.). McCain: "Americans are hurting..." How often was that brought up in his debate prep. Both are playing up their bios here -- a rousing finish.

10:27: Drudge poll is up -- it's 70-20 McCain, just like every other Drudge poll. Maybe these say more about Drudge's readers than about the debate. I like what Obama has to say here about going after Iran...by using less oil!

10:21: First applause line of the night: Brokaw: "We're trying to wind things down."

10:16: McCain: "I know how to get bin Laden." Oh, pul-leez, why didn't you whisper it in Bush's ear that time that you hugged him, then? This is like Nixon's "secret plan" to end the war in Vietnam. What a load of baloney.

10:10: Obama says he will "kill bin Laden." "Kill, baby, kill!" -- no that doesn't work. Now McCain is flip-flopping -- five minutes ago Ronald Reagan was his hero -- now it's Teddy Roosevelt. Of course, TR was in many ways a progressive who ushered in more regulation (remember Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" and the meat industry). He was no Ronald Reagan.

Obama: "You're likable enough, Tom."

I think the "Bomb bomb Iran" is a good comeback.

10:05: It's funny -- Obama is winning this election because of the economy, but I swear he sounds 10 times better when he's talking about foreign policy, particularly the genocide in Darfur.

What do people think of Tom Brokaw tonight? Over at Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo, they're saying he's noticably biased toward McCain. Maybe, but it doesn't seem that obvious -- maybe he's cutting Obama short a little. You know, McCain WAS 100 percent to stand up to Reagan on Lebanon, but that was 25 years ago! That doesn't explain Iraq.

It's interesting that voters seem really interested in the Pakistan situation -- maybe more interested than McCain.

9:58: Obama to Delaware: Drop dead! Just kidding, but he did say that credit card companies like to go to Delaware "because the laws there are pretty lax." Yes, he should ask his RUNNING MATE what the deal is with that.

Did McCain say the United States deserves criticism? -- hmmmm. Obama's best line of the night so far: "He's right, there are some things I don't understand, like way we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11/"

9:50: The Drudge Report doesn't have a debate poll yet -- wonder why that is.

I can't imagine what these people will say in their THIRD debate -- Good grief. I'm trying not to be cynical, honestly -- but the financial crisis has dwarfed everything right now, and it seems clear that a) Neither one has much of a plan for dealing with it right now and b) all this other stuff that they're talking about, where do they expect to get the money for it.

McCain still going for the Reaganesque "government is not the answer" spiel. That may work on health care, but people are wondering where the government was on Wall Street. McCain talks about insurance covering "hair transplants" --was that a dig at Biden?

9:48: McCain: "I know you're bored with this back and forth, but..." here's some back and forth. Now he calls Obama "that one." Do you think he's not able to say Obama's name at this point?

9:44: McCain getting wound up here about nuclear power -- he seems a little radioactive himself. I can't remember anything that Obama has said in the last 45 minutes. That may be his strategy, in a way -- he wants to be boring, don't change the momentum that's going in his way. If boring is his strategy, he's succeeding.

9:41: McCain: Fixing Social Security is easy -- OK, then!

9:36: McCain: "Let's not raise anybody's taxes, my friend." For once, he is channeling Reagan a little more successfully.

How come not of the citizen questions are about flag pins or the Weather Underground. Clearly these regular people could never cut it as professional journalists. The candidates' little quips -- and I mean little -- are all bombing here. Tough room.

9:28: Great Internet question from Chicago about "sacrifices," noting that none has really been asked since World War II. McCain responds by talking about wasteful defense spending, not sure that's what the questioner meant. McCain's obsession with earmarks -- with the inside the Beltway process -- is really killing him with voters. Obama is bashing Bush and the 9/11 "go out and shop" thing. Says Americans needs to start thinking about how we use energy. Maybe people at his rallies can start chanting "Weatherize, baby, weatherize!" :-) He wants to double the Peace Corps -- but seriously, who thinks there's going to be any cash for that.

9:23: McCain keeps talking up "energy independence," even though it really has nothing to do with the questions that have been asked so far. He knows that's the one issue -- "drill baby drill" -- where he has a public opinion edge over Obama. McCain just said "terrorist organizations" -- it was about oil but he was probably looking at Obama. Obama knows the price of gas in Nashville ($3.80) -- good ploy.

9:18: The folks that you have to really feel for here tonight are the American people. You see the faces of these people asking the questions about the economic crisis and they just looked pained, hurt and confused. Their questions are not very specific but it's not their fault: They don't even know what exactly to ask, just that they want this problem fixed. Even sadder is I sense they know that nothing that either Obama or McCain will say tonight will be exactly what they want to hear.

9:15: Obama's first "But look!" of the night.

9:12: I don't know why, but the town hall format does something to McCain -- this will be the high point of his campaigm. Obama laughs as he slams Obama's "cronies" at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Will Obama come back with the Keating Five...stay tuned.

9:07: You can hear the voice that's been planted in McCain's head -- "empathy, empathy, empathy." Makes an interesting proposal to allow the Treasury to -- and I may be mistating this because it's new -- buy up the distressed mortgages of homeowners. He also says he doesn't care how much that costs -- even though he just complained about the $10 billion debt.

McCain says he'd love to see eBay's Meg Whitman as Treasury secretary -- interesting he says that on the day that eBay just laid off 10 percent of its workforce.

9:05: First question is a lay-up for Obama, on the fiscal crisis -- his usual spiel, Bush, deregulation, bla bla bla. Says that AIG execs should be fired -- isn't that McCain's shtick?

9:02: They're off -- isn't Tom Brokaw retired yet? "Do you mind if I call you 'Terrorist?'" Just kidding...normal handshake.

8:57: Chris Matthews says the GOP isn't trying to play on Obama as an African-American, maybe "as a member of a terrorist cell." Is this a great country or what?

8:54: I wonder how many Americans will go to the polls on Nov. 4 intending to cast a ballot for T. Boone Pickens?

8:30: OK, it's almost time. Amazingly, the Presidential Debate Commission and Major League Baseball have conspired -- by accident, to be sure -- to have a night with a presidential debate and no playoffs (although if the Phillies had lost Sunday, you''d be choosing between Obama v. McCain or Hamels v. Sabathia). Anyway, there seems to be a lot more interest in this debate, at least in the DN newsroom, mainly because of the nasty turn the campaign has taken the last few days.

Will the debate be nasty?

No way -- the format is largely centered on questions from an audience that cares about how to pay for their kid's medicine, not whether Obama hangs out with a guy who was a violent radical when Obama was 8 years old. I'd be amazed if McCain plays the Bill Ayres card, or if we see anything similar from Obama. That doesn't mean there couldn't be big news, if there's a no-Soviets-in-Poland type gaffe, or if McCain throws out God knows what kind of Hail Mary.

More importantly, why does every commercial on TV have the song "Shambala" in the background?