It reminded me of that debate as well - remember that polls showed Gore supposedly decisively won that debate, but his polls tumbled in the days that followed in the head to head matchup because people did not like his unprofessional conduct. In this case we have the rudeness and most per the CNN poll thought Ryan won the debate, had greater clarity, and came across as more likeable.
I seriously wonder if Algore had a hand in this. This mirrored that debate.
Someone, maybe Rove, compared the debate to the Nixon / Kennedy debate, the people who listened on the radio thought that Nixon won.