I call bullshit

None of the moderators seem to be able to enforce their own rules. R.I.P Tim Russert. Brokaw proved himself to be an impotent moderator, caving to the whims of the presidential candidates.

After Obama demanded a follow up to answer McCain's attacks, Brokaw pointed out that the time was up, but he relented. "Ok let's have a follow up...I'm just hired help."

Senator McCain is an expert at town hall meetings. He challenged Obama to 10 town hall debates over the summer, but Obama declined.

So far McCain's rhetoric has been superb. He attacks Obama when the Illinois Senator has no opportunity to respond to the charges, he engages the audience, and he improvises. Despite this, polls after the debate show that audiences reacted more favorably to Obama's straightforward approach. So much for straight talk for the Grand Old Party's oldest candidate.

Here is a graph depicting audience reactions:


Tomorrow's debate will be moderated by Bob Schieffer, host of "Face the Nation" on CBS. Schieffer told CNN that in the final debate he will demand that the candidates narrow their answers, and focus on the specifics.

"By now, we've all heard their talking points," he said. "We've heard the general outlines of what they are talking about. The time has come to be a little more specific. It will not embarrass me, if they go off in a different direction, to say, 'excuse me, could you focus on the question that I just asked?"

We'll see how that goes for him.