Forceful Raddatz draws praise as moderator

That was a reference to a story that circulated in conservative media earlier this week noting that when Raddatz married a Harvard law school student in 1991, one of the wedding guests was her new husband's fellow Harvard student and future U.S. president: Barack Obama. Raddatz and her husband, Julius Genachowski, divorced six years later.

The social media scorecard for Raddatz became more predictable as the debate went on, as Slate magazine noted in one tweet: "Liberals think Martha Raddatz is the best debate moderator ever, conservatives think the worst." Relief or happiness among Democrats at Biden's aggressive stance in contrast to Obama last week also seemed to affect opinions on Raddatz.

Toward the end of the debate, Raddatz introduced the issue of abortion with a personal, general question, asking the two Roman Catholic candidates how their faith affected their work in politics.

Her final question was whether either candidate had ever been embarrassed by the tone of the campaign. That drew a rebuke from Karl Rove, whose American Crossroads super PAC helps fund anti-Obama advertising. Rove tweeted that Raddatz's question was "her own personal editorial."