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I am not sure it was that decisive but I did think Angle's side had to be happy with her performance.

She is never going to be particularly polished but, with the first few nervous minutes aside, Angle delivered a performance that met what were extremely low expectations for her.

Reid, to my mind, was surprisingly weak. He repeatedly referenced his time in the Senate -- a no-no in an outsider election like this one -- and seemed unwilling to aggresisvely go after Angle on her myriad controversial statements.

Given how few undecided voters there are left in this race, the debate may not change all that much. But, it was not the sort of performance Reid and Senate Democrats had hoped for from the majority leader.

It was SUPER uncomfortable.

Neither Angle nor Reid are easy communicators and both seemed to struggle at times to make their points.

The moderator's questions were also VERY pointed -- "will you apologize...why didn't you do more to create jobs" -- that put both Reid and Angle in tough rhetorical spots.

To be honest, it felt more like a debate for state Senate than U.S. Senate.

See my answer above.

In a word: yes.

Also, NO ONE outside of Washington knows what the Congressional Budget Office is or does. And yet read mentioned it prominently in no fewer than three answers.

Gang is such a harsh word...more like a group of like-minded individuals.

I think that most people who watched the debate may agree with you. Neither of them were stand outs -- or even close.

Well, we already have Fix t-shirts.

My goal is to have a Fix stadium seat. Or maybe just a sponsored "Live Fix" chat.

COME ON COFFEEHOUSES! No one wants in on that action?

I move fast.

And, I don't think Angle beat Reid "badly" last night. I think both of them delivered pretty underwhelming performances.

I just think she had the lower bar to clear and probably cleared it.

As a "Back to the Future" devotee, I am pro-time travel. But remember, you start fiddling with even the smallest things in the past and it could have a major impact on the future.

Butterfly effect and all that.

Right. A really good point.

This is a race where 3 or 4 percent of the electorate is truly undecided at this point.

Given that, it may be overstating things to suggest that the debate changed everything (or anything) in the race.

That said, I think Angle could have lost the debate -- and votes -- by coming off as erratic or too conservative. While she was clearly nervous and not very polished, I think she gave people reason to believe she could be a credible alternative to Reid.

We'll find out in 18 days. I think voters in Nevada long ago decided they wanted to fire Harry Reid. But, they have been unconvinced to date that they should hire Sharron Angle.

Did she do enough to close that deal last night? And will she step on her messaging again in ameaningful way between now and Nov. 2?

It DID sort of come out of the blue.

My guess would be Angle's advisers told her to try and get the fact that Reid lives at the Ritz Carlton into the debate somehow and she did her best to do that.

It felt a little forced. I actually thought Reid's response to that attack was a high point in the debate for him.

I think NOTA votes likely come out of Angle's total. As I said above, there is a widespread distaste for Reid in the Nevada electorate.

The more the anti-Reid vote gets fractured between Angle, third party candidates and NOTA the better chance the Democrat has of winning.

NOT AT ALL.

I am of course not there this week due to the fact I was just on THE DIANE REHM SHOW!!!

But, no, come on by. Bu, I am typing solid from 11 am to noon so make it before or after that.

And, yes, Catholic field hockey does rule. 10-2 and ranked #14 in the country. Mrs. Fix=John Wooden of field hockey.

Quick summary.

Playstation 2, basketball, gigantic nerdiness inre school work and lots more swings than misses -- stunning, I know -- with the ladies.

Also, lots and lots of sandwiches from Wisemiller's -- the greatest story in the world.

Done and done.

That WAS a little weird, wasn't it?

But, for everyone who derided Angle's "Man up, Harry Reid" line, check out the coverage of the debate today. That line is in the lead of almost every story written about it.

Ah, journalism.

Just not sure what to do with this.

It now appears as though McAdams will have enough money to make sure that Alaska voters know they have an alternative to Murkowski and Miller.

Still, Alaska is a very Republican state normally -- and especially so in a year like this.

To win, McAdams needs Murkowski to remain a serious contender to the end and for the incumbent to win almost exclusively Republican votes.

Any independent or Democratic votes for Murkowski come directly from McAdams and make it harder to see how he wins.

Yes. YES!

Could? Yes. Will? Not sure.

It's so hard to predict this race because Murkowski is running as a write in. So, any poll that prompts respondents with her name doesn'texactly re-create the experience for a voter in the ballot box.

There's a reason no write in has been elected to the Senate since 1954. (Strom Thurmond!)

Check out my "Fast Fix" video from today. It's on the Murkowski write in: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/the-fast-fix/

They have helped on an advice level but not a money level yet.

Given the number of Democratic held seats in serious jeopardy, it's hard to see the DSCC going up in Alaska -- as of today at least.

Man. That's like saying you expected Bobby Thompson to hit the "Shot Heard Round the World" again the next time he came up.

And, yes, I did just compare my situation to the most famous homerun ever hit.

Debate was meaningless in my opinion.

Barring Chris Coons making a MASSIVE gaffe on the campaign trail, he will be elected to the Senate on Nov. 2 -- and probably by a pretty large margin.

The attention O'Donnell gets is based almost entirely on her persona. It has nothing to do with the relative competitiveness (or lack thereof) of the race.

Well played. Also, I hate Syracuse more than life itself. Your punishment for going there is you lived in Syracuse, New York for four years.

Correct. OBama's approval ratings in those states are dismal and he would almost certainly do more harm than good if he did go in and campaign for any of the Democratic candidates running in those areas.

Kirk has not pulled away from Giannoulias in the way that most people -- including many Democrats -- expected him to.

Giannoulias is being helped by the fact that Illinois is one of the most Democratic states in the country -- meaning that he can bring in all sorts of national party surrogates to help him gin up the party base.

Both Giannoulias and Kirk are deeply flawed as candidates. Given that, it's possible that voters throw up their hands and just vote their partisanship. If that happens, Giannoulias wins.

Agree.

I think this is an election where the economy will be the dominant issue.  And, voters seem to be in the mood to make wholesale change -- which could lead to some unexpected losses where we aren't even looking at the moment.

Politics is an unpredictable game so it's ALWAYS possible things change but the big environmental factors seem pretty stable.

As someone who regularly laughs -- and is often the only one laughing -- at my own jokes, I sympathize.

Golly, that would be cool. A boy can dream...

Pittsburgh representing!

I do.

I would say Boxer is a little more likely to win than Brown. But, both are helped by the strong Democratic underpinnings of the state.

In the govs race, I am just not sure how much "nanny gate" and the "whore" comment matter.

Do voters dismiss both incidents as sideshows? Does one matter more than the other? It's just very difficult to know.

Not really.

I don't think Dems win in NC. There is a poll showing the Louisiana Senate race within single digits but, again, I am skeptical that David Vitter loses in an election cycle where the wind is blowing strongly at Republicans' backs.

The DSCC will spend whatever it takes to keep Reid in the Senate. It's justb how the process worked. They did the same in 2004 for Tom Daschle. And the National Republican Senatorial Committee did the same for Mitch McConnell in 2008.

No. But that is a really good idea.

I think he is.

The operative question now is whether he was too far behind to make up enough ground before Nov. 2.

The advantage for Sestak is that he is running in a state where Democrats have a 1.5 million registration edge over Republicans, which gives him some significant room for error.

The problem for Sestak is that the national party -- and President Obama -- is not particularly popular outside of Philadelphia, making it hard for him to win over independent and moderate voters.

Definitely getting closer though...

Seems like Manchin has regained his footing somewhat after a VERY rough few weeks.

Manchin is still very popular among the state's voters, which should help him successfully distance himself from what it a very unpopular national party in the Mountain State.

GREAT question.

Beau Biden is at the top. Dean Heller for sure. Lisa Madigan would be cruising into the Senate right now, I think.

This is a good post...Fix posse will get on it asap.

Because he saw an easier path in 2012 when badly damaged Sen. John Ensign (R) is up for re-election.

Assuming Ensign retires, Heller could have the GOP nomination to himself.

If Ensign tries to run, Heller will likely primary him with the support of various state and national Republicans.

Someone emailed me and told me I have to interrupt Chris less!!!

I will be taking my talents to Scranton, PA where Mrs. Fix's field hockey team will be taking on the Scranton Royals.

Got anywhere good to eat/drink expensive coffee up there? Email me at chris.cillizza@wpost.com

Been listening to the Witmark Demos (Dylan) a bunch lately.

What else do I need to buy? I have been in a little bit of a music dark period because of this pesky election.

My husband and I have been obsessed with The War on Drugs. Fabulous stuff.

I have been calling this the "bear election". As in, you don't have to be faster than the bear, you just have to be faster than the other guy.

And lots of Republicans are likely to win using just that formula.

Remember how cool Deloreans were after that movie? Man, I am old.

We'll find out in 18 days.

In an election like this one where the playing field is clearly tilted toward Republicans, we shouldn't still be talking about a Senate race in kentucky.

That we are is testament to the fact that voters still have reservations about Paul. 

Well, the district -- Seattle area -- is moving in the wrong direction for Reichert.

But, he won re-election in two terrible Republicans years (2006 and 2008) so the thinking is that in a much better year nationally for Republicans this November he should be ok.

But, that district is going to be very tough for him to hold for that much longer. Demographics are destiny.

Well, he is currently the Attorney General of California.  And, he has been governor before...back in the 1970s...

Both good.

I would go with "Gil Arenas' knee"