In Isaac Asimov's 1955 book "Franchise", a supercomputer chooses a "voter of the year" to decide the fate of the election. Then, that person answers a series of questions which the computer uses to decide the results of the election.
Joe Sixpack thought he had hit the jackpot, but unfortunately for him, the fictional "Joe the Plumber" got the gig.
Or at least, that's what I learned from John McCain, in between his angry outbursts and snorting.
On substance, I actually thought McCain had his best performance thus far, when not distracting with his weird facial expressions and snorting. But still, Obama is on another level altogether. Perhaps if Romney or Giuliani was the nominee these would be fairer contests, but it's not even close. And while McCain seemed better prepared than in the previous debates, tonight was also the wingnuttiest McCain has looked all campaign. All the veneer of being a moderate was stripped away as he derisively tossed aside the notion of "health of the mother". The notion was a insult to his sensibilities!
Not that it matters. There was nothing here tonight that would change minds. Given that Obama has already broken 50 percent nationally and in the key battleground states, and that significant percentage of voters have already cast their early votes, McCain needed to radically transform the shape of the race. That means a homerun performance coupled with an Obama collapse. Neither happened.
I'll let the snap polls determine who "won" the debate, but no matter what they proclaim, this race is pretty much over.