As we explained late last night neither the insta-polls nor the pundits saw a clear-cut, no-doubt winner on the Danville, Ky. stage on Thursday. So it should come as no surprise that a quick scan of the morning’s front pages shows the nation’s headline writers and art teams largely played things down the middle in the hours between when the debate ended and Friday’s editions went to press.
What pretty much everyone felt comfortable saying, however, was that last night was somewhere between a combative exchange of policy ideas and a knock-down drag-out fight. Here’s a small sampling from those states still seen as toss-ups by Real Clear Politics (screenshots via the Newseum, which has plenty more for you to look at here).
Denver Post:
Tampa Bay Times:
Des Moines Register:
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
Detroit News
Charlotte Observer:
Cleveland Plain-Dealer:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Richmond Times-Dispatch:
