The numbers are in for last night’s debate and the winner is… still Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. John McCain and Barack Obama drew over 63 million viewers last night, according to Nielsen, but that was still under the nearly 70 million pairs of eyeballs attracted by their running mates Thursday night. (All three debates outdrew the 46.7 million for the second Bush-Kerry debate in 2004.)
Part of the difference can be attributed to the fact that Thursday is the most-watched night of TV in the week (the first prez debate got a mere 52.4 million on a Friday, which is a TV ghost town). Of course, also, no one was expecting to see Tina Fey on stage last night.