Americans saw a lively back-and-forth that many voters said they missed in the first two debates.

The major issue as expected was the economy, and taxes emerged as the new issue that had not been discussed as much in previous debates. But with Barack Obama beating John McCain in all of the national polls... It was the Republican who needed to land a blow. McCain did get a verbal jab in when he told Obama that he is not George W. Bush and would not represent his policies.

Most of the night was dedicated to issues that would affect all Americans -- from the economy, to taxes, to health care.

McCain brought up a real voter, the now-famous Joe The Plumber that Obama had talked to earlier in the week. McCain said that Obama's health care plan would fine Joe if he didn't insure his employees.

Here is a bit of the exchange:

"I'm a plumber, I work 10, 12 hours a day... And I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue to work this way. Now if I buy another truck and add something else to it and build the company, I'm getting taxed more and more -- we're fulfilling, we're fulfilling the American Dream," said Joe Wurzelbacher of Toledo, Ohio.

You can watch the full 6 minute exchange between Joe and Obama right here on on KOMU.com. Just click the related link.

Wurzelbacher reacted to the attention in an interview with a local television station back in Ohio.

"I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working americans, 95 percent. If you make more -- if you make less than a quarter million dollars a year, then you will not see your income tax go up, your capital gains tax go up, your payroll tax. Not one dime," Obama told Joe.

The Republican candidate coutered the senator from illinois.

"The whole premise behind Senator Obama's plans are class warfare, let's spread the wealth around. I want small businesses -- and by the way, the small businesses that we're talking about would receive an increase in their taxes right now.Who -- why would you want to increase anybody's taxes right now? Why would you want to do that, anyone, anyone in America," replied mccain.

Tonight, the second of 3 special Thursday SNL political editions airs.

The half hour edition starts at 8:30 --- and is largely a political edition of the show and will poke fun at last night's debate.