ALEX: Sydney, that gubernatorial debate we just watched was, to borrow a line, a thrilla in vanilla. It’s almost refreshing to see two very conventional, polite men debate like that. Are we on a different planet?

SYDNEY: No, we’re in Ohio. Marietta, to be exact, near the West Virginia border. You’re right, though — this race is almost a throwback to a time when state politics was more localized and less about what is going on in Washington. The Democratic nominee, Richard Cordray, and the Republican candidate, Mike DeWine, talked about health care, education and algae. But unless I’m mistaken, neither of them mentioned President Trump by name. And Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee, also never came up.

ALEX: In some ways, it probably reflects how closely divided Ohio is at this point. Trump won here easily in 2016, but he’s no longer so popular that Republicans want to ride his coattails exclusively, and he’s also not unpopular enough for Democrats to campaign on a squarely anti-Trump message.

These are clearly two pretty wonky guys. I wonder if anything popped out at you about the policy side of the debate?