And even then, the multiple commercial breaks made it impossible to keep any flow between the congressional candidates as they sparred over their records.

The most telling part of the debate came with the first question -- a fairly good softball by George Knapp asking the candidates to describe the philosophical approach they took to the bailout issue.

Sadly this is exactly the kind of question a modern candidate cannot answer.

Porter, the Republican incumbent, recited the forensics of the vote. Twice. Knapp asked him again what his philosophy was with respect to government bailouts.

Nothing.

Titus, the Democratic state senator, did a bit better, explaining her desire to see the middle class get a bail out. But that's not a real philosophy either.

Titus was well-prepared, deftly deflecting some of Porter's more juvenile antics (such as reading a quote from an old news story completely out of context as a means of condemning something Titus had said).

She made it a fun debate to watch. When Porter suggested Titus' failure to take a position on one of the bailout bills was technically a "flip-flop," Titus glanced at a paper and listed at least six of Porter's recent policy turnarounds.

If there are still undecided voters out in Congressional District 3, they could just as easily have been turned off by both candidates' approaches. And if you were voting for Porter or Titus, the debate changed little.

The two Clark County Commission debates, which aired Thursday on local public television, barely touched upon the important economic, development and growth issues facing the county.

The Steve Sisolak-Brian Scroggins debate was little more than a continuation of their negative 30-second ads.

Sisolak's commercial casting Scroggins in the same light as two former commissioners now serving jail time is much more effective than anything we saw in the debate.

The big barb in the other competitive commission race saw Republican Assemblywoman Valerie Weber trying to paint Democratic City Councilman Larry Brown as ineffective because the city hasn't yet brokered a deal with a pro sports team.

That issue ranks right up there for me with water and taxes and the possibility of an all-Democratic commission.

Even worse was the so-called debate between Republican state Sen. Bob Beers and his Democratic challenger Allison Copening.

The most critical issue facing the state -- the sagging economy and unstable financial structure that exacerbates it -- was dumbed down in debate land just enough to make nobody in the public give a damn about it.

This race will likely determine the political control of the Legislature. If either Beers or fellow Republican incumbent Joe Heck should lose, Democrats will control both houses in Carson City.

But here we had Copening (who only agreed to the debate after it lost its teeth) advocating a state lottery as the way out of the problem.

This was countered by Beers who didn't really answer the question and then went off on some kind of sidetrack about rat populations increasing with human development.

So much for problem solving.

In the other debate -- the one between Heck and Democratic challenger Shirley Breeden -- we got a little retread on some policy distinctions before Heck deflected a question to condemn Breeden's campaign tactics.

Both Breeden and Copening have gotten to within striking distance of the incumbents thanks to Democratic voter registration gains, attack mail pieces, and the candidates' uncanny ability to say nothing.

Breeden didn't stray from the game plan in the Thursday debate. The only thing Copening did actually propose when she wasn't trying to sound as though she were more conservative than Beers was the stale lottery idea.

And for all we know, that chart Beers held up might have actually been a voter registration chart. (I couldn't see the rat numbers on my TV screen).

This election has boiled down to a simple metric. The rats are fleeing the sinking GOP ship in districts 5 and 6 and the Democrats' only strategy is to keep pouring water into the hull.

As a registered voter in District 6, I've gotten plenty of mail. Still I held out hope that the debate was going to offer something more.

But that's the strategy the Democrats are sticking with, and as a result, it's the box the Republicans find themselves in.

We'll know in a little more than two weeks if it worked. But we already know what didn't work -- the so-called debates designed to showcase choices for the voters.

Contact Erin Neff at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.