Sen. Russ Feingold and challenger Tim Michels met in their first debate last night.

Unlike the Kerry-Bush debate, I listened to this one on the radio so I don't know if anyone wore too much makeup or a bad tie and such. The debate started off on foreign policy with Feingold defending his votes on the Iraq war and the USA Patriot Act. Michels tried to criticize him on those votes, but he came off as a cheerleader for the Bush Administration.

Regarding the Patriot Act, Michels had two particularly damaging moments in the debate. While Michels said he would vote to renew the Patriot Act, Feingold pointed out that Michels has admitted to not even reading the legislation. Feingold used this to say how strongly he believes in voting for "quality legislation" rather than bills with fancy titles.

Michels then tried to recover by saying the Patriot Act hasn't resulted in any civil liberties violations. Again, he seemed out of touch with reality as Feingold accurately pointed out that earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero struck down part of the act as unconstitutional.

The rest of the debate centered on health care, trade policy and prescription drug coverage for seniors. Feingold held his own by explaining his own health care reform package, defending his votes against NAFTA/GATT, and touting his ongoing efforts to allow Americans to purchase drugs from Canadian pharmacies (an issue that Michels agrees with him on).

Feingold defended his record strongly on issues like campaign finance reform during the debate. While Michels tried to paint him as a "career politician," he failed to demonstrate that he had a firm grasp of the issues. The two will debate again next Saturday, but Michels has an uphill battle if he wants to unseat the two-term Senator.