I thought I had some sort of responsibility to listen to last night's debate, so I tried. But this time I lasted only 7 minutes. When Romney's voice started feeling like chalk screeching on the blackboard, the book I'm reading about small boats in big weather suddenly seemed much more interesting. (I'm in the chapter on using drogues as sea anchors.) Andrew Sullivan carries the best summary of the debate: Romney's argument was, "I will lead America the same way, but with more leadership!"

But Jim Gourley has a longer attention span, so he will analyze the debate for us today.