That was one spirited debate tonight.

Takeaway: these are two candidates who are fired up about this race. They were exceptionally energetic tonight. Even more so than the previous two such gatherings.

Message: Rossi is still most definitely the change agent. He beats the drum at every opportunity, turning every question possible into a chance to communicate a) what's wrong with Olympia and/or b) his approach to fixing it.

If there is something wrong in this state that is not due to the national economic climate then no one told Gregoire. She's a fierce debater, defending her record, and firing back. But she has no forward vision.

Haymakers: Both candidates were on their game. Gregoire as usual was well-armed with stats and figures, refusing to give an inch. Rossi was relentlessly on message, constantly pointing out flaws in Gregoire's administration and pledging to "change the culture of Olympia." No earth shattering one-liners though.

Journalists panel: Barbara Serrano, Managing Editor of the Yakima Herald-Republic led off the questions with a query on how the candidates would have voted on the controversial financial rescue plan in the House on Monday. Amazingly irrelevant to the Governor's race.

Ryan Blethen was...well, Ryan Blethen. Everyone knows why he was on that stage. And it wasn't because of his classy, unshaven look to go with that pinstripe suit.

Other than that the questions seemed relevant. Enrique Cerna was a tolerable moderator.

Pluses for both candidates: Rossi never missed a chance to take even an oddball question and turn it into an answer he wanted to give. A question on nuclear power - not a huge issue in the Governor's race - turned into Gregoire's much-publicized failure to stand up for jobs at Areva in the Tri-Cities.

Gregoire was absolutely loaded for bear on every topic. She didn't quite play the George W. Bush card the same way as she laughably did during their KOMO debate, but she did a nice job of deflecting on the budget deficit (at least rhetorically) and scoring points where she could. Her line about Rossi wanting to "deregulate" health care is very effective for the low-information voter. [Never mind that this state's over-regulation drove health insurers out of large swaths of the state's health care marketplace in the late 1990's - creating a stunning lack of access to coverage. Today, things are only marginally better. But, I digress.]

Minuses for both candidates: Gregoire keeps pumping that damn fist like she's jabbing in a boxing match. It accentuates the sometimes abrasive pitch in her voice. She is not a "likable" candidate.

Rossi's effective use of his time to communicate his message rather than go into great detail on the question asked could be construed by some voters as dodging the question. He was gesturing frequently with his hands tonight, more so than normal. It was probably indicative of his energy level, but I found it distracting.

THE issue: the state budget played a major role in the lion's share of answers. Gregoire is exceptionally vulnerable on it, even though she volleys back gamely when Rossi fires away on that topic. Her defense of her record is rhetorically strong in a debate setting, even as the overall issue is not a winner for her.

"Olympia cuts": Rossi trotted out some examples from the budget he wrote in the state Senate to show where even though he increased the amount of money in education programs from Governor Gary Locke's budget, Gregoire calls it a "cut" because it could have been more. That was an effective parry, and put meat on the bones of the "Olympia cuts" line he uses a lot.

Left unsaid in a lot of this discussion is that all this harping on that Rossi budget means Gregoire is also picking on the Democratic House that passed that budget and the Democratic Governor (Locke) who signed it.

Paging Eastern Washington: After appropriately disavowing the "Don't Let Seattle Steal This Election" signs from BIAW when asked, Rossi went on an interesting riff about the importance of people voting. "I'm the the poster boy for 'every vote counts.'" The point being, people in Eastern Washington who have felt outweighed by Seattle and Western Washington in the past should know how much their vote counts this year.

Bigger point: Rossi won't win if Eastern Washington under-performs in voter turnout like it did in 2004.

Ironic moment: Gregoire, she of the party that howls whenever someone says "Democrat party" instead of "Democratic party" should know better than to say "...GOP, whatever that means..." in the midst of the back-and-forth on the failed Democratic party lawsuit on ballot labels. Like she doesn't know what GOP stands for after being in politics her whole life.

Final thoughts: A vigorous debate, worth watching. Both candidates get high marks for debate performance. Their energy and rhetorical skill were high.

Gregoire debates well and forces Rossi to be in top form too. Yet, the cloud of the looming budget shortfall and the spending that got us there remain an albatross Gregoire can't escape. You can see it in the questions journalists ask. You can see it when Rossi lands some of his best verbal blows.

Watching the closing statements, I was reminded of something Joel Connelly is fond of noting: Washingtonians tend to reward optimistic candidates over those with negative inclinations.

Well, Rossi's closing statement - along with a notable part of his debate remarks - was about what he would do as Governor..."change the culture of Olympia" with the help of the "citizens movement" now fueling his campaign. He welcomed Democrats and Independents alike to join him. In contrast, Gregoire talked all doom and gloom in her closing two minutes, giving the appearance that national economic concerns were all consuming, threatening to smash the state into oblivion despite her heroic work running up a massive budget shortfall "investing" in the state.

Who's the optimist there?