One more time, three weeks before Election Day, President Bush and Senator Kerry took their swings at each other, and both did well. Mr. Kerry gave the same steady, organized-but-bland performance he's churned out from the beginning. Mr. Bush was feisty and in command, which, following on the heels of his dynamic turn in St. Louis last Friday, demonstrates conclusively that the halting first debate performance was an aberration. And no, not because he had a radio strapped to his backside, as some conspiracy-mongers would have it.

CNN/USA/Gallup says Kerry won by a gigantic margin; the ABC News Poll found it was a tie. Hmmmm... verrrry suspicious. That Mr. Bush was not awarded what was a very obvious victory in the second debate has put the Gnomon off polls forever.

Except for one: the hackneyed and cliched "only poll that counts," the one on November 2nd. We'll be there, voting early and often. Hopefully our readers -- the ones with good sense, anyway -- will do the same.