Wednesday night’s presidential debate, in which Mitt Romney shellacked President Barack Obama, attracted the biggest audience since the debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan seven days before the 1980 election.

About 70 million Americans watched, a little more than half the 131 million voter turnout in 2008. That’s an estimate, because the ratings companies don’t count those watching on C-SPAN, PBS or the Internet.

Did the debates matter? The first state polls, conducted by Rasmussen and We Ask America on Thursday night, suggest the answer is yes.