Going into tonight’s debate, Rich Iott faced a very serious problem — he was effectively a Gawkerized, Bill Maher-exposed laughingstock in the national media, and had even been repudiated by members of his own party. As such, expectations for Iott were extremely low, and it would not have been surprising if Marcy Kaptur had delivered a knock-out punch.

She failed to do so, therefore Rich Iott wins.

Iott came off in this debate as a serious, thinking candidate with a strong business background and a clear vision which made him sound like anything but the crazed, kooky Nazi of so many articles. He should have cratered under the strain of the past few days, yet this debate showed him to be steely and serious.

Surprisingly, Kaptur also came off better than her first performance, eschewing (with some embarrassing exceptions) the populist Soccer Mom demagoguery of the last debate for a more serious, policy-oriented and independent approach to the debate. However, the populist vulgarity returned in full in her closing statement, where she sounded notes that would not have been out of place at an AFL-CIO rally, sounding just like a cheap partisan.

Iott used his closing statement to go Reaganesque and positive, which was an unusual decision, given the blistering negativity of his opening statement, but highly effective in drawing contrasts between the two candidates.

Kaptur’s delivery was smoother in places than Iott’s, to be sure. But what he lacked in polish he made up for in brusque straight talk. Iott shouldn’t be counted out, embarrassing photos or no, and that proves he won this debate. If nothing else, he proved that this is a race where you very clearly have two serious candidates.