8:51 PM ... Maybe I'm underestimating how much viewers will pick up McCain's ducking these questions or fibbing on stuff like the Bush tax cuts. But Romney seems simply unwilling to strike at McCain in any effective way. Am I missing something? Does he know it's over? Because Rush and the rest of them are already wimping out and trying to buy tickets on the McCain bandwagon?

9:00 PM ... Leave it to Mitt Romney to stumble over his ability to say "no". Mitt seriously seems not to comprehend the first elements of political rhetoric. Mitt gets a softball: Is McCain lying when he says you supported Iraq time tables (when in fact he was lying)? Then he stumbles over "unequivocally". And then says a bunch of other nonsense. He sort of recovered at the end. But man, it was pitiful.

9:04 PM ... A moment of spark from Mitt, but then it fades.

9:05 PM ... God, Mitt should be able to knock McCain on his heels on this one. He insists that Romney said X and the quote doesn't say X. Can Mitt stay focused?

9:23 PM ... Mitt's actually sucking toward the end ... Alas, now he's getting himself confused with his checkers and chess analogy. So sad to watch.