Forget Monday Night Football. There's Another Wisconsin Senate Debate!

Jillian Bandes | October 11, 2010 10:23 AM

Republican Ron Johnson and Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold just had a debate on Friday night — it was cordial, for the most part, and maybe even marginally informative. See

Katie's post for closing arguments.

The two candidates are having another debate tonight that is expected to draw national attention, if they can steal enough eyeballs from Monday night football. Then they'll have a third and final debate on the 22nd, right before the ball drops in November.

Last Friday's debate was the first that Johnson had ever participated in, and it showed, with a few mis-speaks and weird intonations. That naivete worked to his advantage, however, against Feingold's insider-vibe. Feingold's cool and collected talking points might be too smooth for voters.

Some similarities between the two candidates became clear: they're both in favor of an all-of-the-above energy policy, a strong rebuke to Iran's energy plans, and solid 2nd Amendment rights. That's where their similarities end, though. Johnson is in favor of restricted stem cell research, lower taxes, private health care, and reduced government spending. Feingold wants just the opposite.

I have no reason to expect that tonight's debate won't simply be more of the same. Let's just see if Johnson can polish himself up a little bit.