The civilised tone of the US vice-presidential debate has been widely welcomed as giving voters a better insight into election issues than the sharp exchanges between Vice-President Al Gore and Governor George Bush in their earlier debate.
Both campaigns predictably claimed victory for their running mates, the Democratic senator Mr Joe Lieberman and Mr Dick Cheney of the Republican Party, in the single vice-presidential debate which took place in Danville, Kentucky, on Thursday night. Both men agreed at the start of the 90-minute debate to refrain from personal attacks.
Editorial writers yesterday urged Mr Gore and Mr Bush to follow the example of their running mates and explore the issues in more depth in their two remaining debates on October 11th and 17th.
The Lieberman-Cheney debate produced no knock-out blows or memorable put-downs but the earnest presentation of policies was leavened by flashes of humour from both participants, who sat at a curved table facing a journalist moderator.
Mr Cheney, a former secretary of defence, showed his greater experience in defence and foreign policy matters in answer to questions on events in Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Iraq. But Mr Lieberman refused to accept the claim that the US military capacity has been eroded under the Clinton Administration.
Mr Cheney said he preferred the "warrior" to the "peace-keeper" role for US forces. Any peacekeeping missions should have a "time limit".
Meanwhile, there was welcome news for Mr Gore in the latest CNN/USA Today daily tracking poll, which shows him 11 points ahead of Mr Bush, after being level with him only a week ago. This is Mr Gore's biggest lead since the poll began last month.
A second tracking poll by Reuters/MSNBNC shows that Mr Gore's five-point lead has remained unchanged during this week. Mr Bush has more support among men, while Mr Gore leads by 10 points among women.
A Voters.com tracking poll shows Mr Bush ahead by 43 per cent to 41 per cent. But observers say that it is too early for the opinion polls to reflect viewers' impressions of the two debates which have so far taken place.
A site devoted to the US presidential election is now live on The Irish Times website at www.ireland.com/special/us-elections.