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One question for the undecided voters of America – are you better off now than you were 90 minutes ago?

Despite a Romney landslide 67% “win” among CNN debate watchers and pundits parsing the candidates words in excruciating detail (worse than the actual number-laded debate itself), undecided voters remained decidedly, undecided.

What voters needed from the debate, a clear idea of the candidates’ plans for American renewal, remained lost in the thicket of questionable facts, long-winded replies, and tired rhetoric.

The debates did little to address the most pressing issues facing the U.S. economy. What can government actually do, in the short-term, to help increase employment, get the deficit under control, and ensure the social safety remains intact.

There was no clear vision for America, no soaring oratory, no sense of mission or purpose. Just two men, talking past each other through volleys of competing accounts of their opponents’ views and saccharine human touch stories. Remember the Denver woman with child in hand whose husband hasn’t had a full-time job in years? Or was it a man in (insert name of swing state here) who lost his insurance coverage and can’t get the operation he needs?

What seemed to get the most rise out of Colorado undecideds were phrases like “stop shipping jobs to China” and discussions on the importance of education. Old wine, new bottles.

How much do the candidates’ facts even matter? Probably not as much as we’d like to believe. Who is going to remember whether the Romney plan (with or without details) will actually add $5 trillion to the deficit. Did green energy companies really receive $80 billion in tax breaks and oil companies only a few billion? How many licks does it take to get to the center of that tootsie pop … no one really cares.

The fact checking cycle will run for the next few days and when the October truths come out they’ll be forgotten by November 6th. One zinger worth holding onto — Romney loves Big Bird, but won’t use taxpayer money to fund PBS.

Moving on to the next debate a youthful Paul Ryan faces off against the seasoned and outspoken Vice President Biden. In this match-up will an elder statesman school his less experienced upstart or does a Gen X politician goad the VP into saying something outlandish and damaging to the Obama campaign? It’s reality television on sedatives.

For the most expensive election in U.S. history one would have expected a better show. Maybe in the third and last debate the gloves will finally come off and we’ll get to see a real battle of ideas that make a difference.