To his credit, DeVos did address the specifics of the Governor's plan -- arguing that too much emphasis is placed upon University research (instead of private-sector job creation).

The attack, though, only went so far. The Governor pointed out that University research can and does create job growth.

DeVos never revisited this issue.

Second -- Who benefited from the "town hall" format ?...

I thought this was a wash.

The Governor is still the more gifted public speaker, and displayed more experience by re-iterating the names of audience members that had posed questions.

However, DeVos deserves praise for dramatically improving his delivery and message. Someone in his camp is doing something right.

He did a better job of answering the precise question before him. At times, the Governor went on tangents and frequently struggled to squeeze-in her answers during the alloted time.

Third -- How will DeVos react to the claim that his tax cuts stand to tradeoff with funding social services ?..

This is an area where DeVos has remained weak.

This evening, the Governor repeatedly asked her Challenger "How he intends to pay for this ?"

...DeVos has never directly responded. At one point he did imply that he may utilize a Corporate Profit Tax. It was unclear if such a tax would be specifically tailored to remedy funding shortfalls created by his pledge to eliminate the Single Business Tax.

In sum, I felt that Devos did a strong job indicting the Governor's track record, but was weak on advancing remedies. He has improved his public speaking.

The Governor put forth a less-commanding performance, but was strong on message. She benefited from omissions in DeVos' platform.

Will Repko is the head debate coach at Michigan State University. He is widely recognized as one of the best judges in the country by the intercollegiate debate community and his teams have won the intercollegiate national debate championship (the National Debate Tournament) twice in the past three years (2004 & 2006).