THE CONCLUSION: Again, not bad for Kerry, but Bush is at the top of his game here at the end. He’s still no Ronald Reagan, but he’s good — much better than at the beginning or in the earlier debates. If he’d been like this in the first debate he’d be up by 10.

Sum up: Not much of a debate, though it improved dramatically in the last half hour or so. As I’ve said before, my judgment is suspect, but I think Bush wins this one hands down — if anyone was still watching at the end. And hey, at least I agree with Julian Sanchez’s rather different crowd.