These pundits should watch more baseball.

I hope to remain undecided until Election Day. If I settle on a candidate, I'm afraid I'll miss a good play or a bad error. A good baseball fan appreciates it when the opposing team turns a quick double play. But in the punditry I've seen since the debate - especially on NBC - the talking heads proved they'd made up their mind before last night's debate started. It's not easy to keep from setting a preference for one candidate or the other, but it's what a good opinion maker - and a good voter - will do.

Accordingly, here's my scouting report.

1. Barack Obama tried to emphasize his tax cuts for the middle class, but he didn't go far enough. He said twice that 95 percent of Americans will get a tax cut under his plan - but that doesn't mean anything. John McCain promised me $5,000. Barack Obama should should have said, "Look around. Do you think you're in the top 5 percent of earners? If not, you should vote for me, because I'll give you a tax break. If yes, you should vote for me anyway, because I'll manage the economy better."

2. John McCain did a good job telling the story of his foreign policy and military decisionmaking experience through the 1980s and 90s, but he let Barack Obama ruffle him with a cheap trick, when Obama seemingly slipped, calling him Tom, then later Jim. He stammered, and seemed to get a little heated - when he needed to be the one to put Obama in his place. 

Finally, a few things I have a little beef with:

• McCain listed conflicts he's helped make decisions on. He talked about Kosovo and Somalia, but didn't mention Rwanda at all.
  
• Obama let McCain get away with being the guy who opposed torture, when at the last minute, with his political future on the line, McCain voted against the bill that would have banned waterboarding.
  
• When did Henry Kissinger become such a great guy in everyone's estimation?