I couldn't stand watching the first debate, so I went to bed... and I don't regret the decision.
My wife and I watched Joe Biden's complete smackdown of Paul Ryan on a big screen with a fired-up crowd in Provincetown. We were inspired... and, apparently, so was Obama.
However, it became apparent in the third debate that Obama learned from Joe's performance -- and Romney didn't learn a thing watching Paul Ryan.
The one aspect of Paul Ryan's performance that I respected was that he was completely unflappable. Joe poked, prodded, and rhetorically bitch-slapped him, and he stayed totally calm and kept lying his lies.
When Obama took a comparatively peaceful approach to standing up to Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee reacted terribly. As the debate went on, he exposed more and more of what I suspect is his true personality: the angry, forceful douchebag.
Tomorrow night, he will sit down at a table with Obama, armed with the same bag full of neocon lies and Fox News propaganda he was packing last week. Obama will bring Truth, Experience, and a much more powerful brain. In the current traditional media environment, that may or may not carry the day.
OK, so what's my prediction?
America has now seen the real Mitt Romney, after Obama was able to draw him out last week. They're smart enough to figure out a real October Surprise: actively piss off Mitt Romney, so that he has an angry outburst on live TV.
I predict that Obama will be honest, charming (to the TV audience) and insulting (to Mitt). We've seen how annoyed Romney gets when confronted by Truth... imagine him dealing with Ridicule.
One things is for sure: we're making popcorn.