Immediately following last week’s vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin, I left my television on so as to hear some of the live reactions from analysts and undecided voters who were chosen to voice their opinions on TV. In the process of leaving my TV on, I did something I rarely do as someone who watches TV in a TiVo-controlled bubble: I watched commercials.

I was so struck by these commercials, notably their pointed and relevant topics, that I stuck around after this week’s presidential debate and watched a few more.  I didn’t even miss my TiVo remote.

Not surprisingly, many of the commercials on cable news channels like MSNBC, CNN, FOX News and others were political — and even on the mainstream networks like NBC, CBS, FOX and ABC, I saw these types of ads.

They started out sounding rather non-partisan, including commercials that encouraged pride in America and our ability to find alternative energy resources by working together:

–An ad for Clean Coal showed a variety of people saying they believed in the future and protecting the environment. These people said things like, “I believe in technology,” or “I believe in American ingenuity,” and finally, “I believe we can be energy independent.” The closing line for the ad simply said, “Clean Coal: America’s Power,” with a link to this group’s Web site.

–After the presidential debate, I saw an advertisement with T. Boone Pickens encouraging people to discuss another debate: the debate about freedom from foreign oil.  The URL for this group’s Web site flashed on the screen: PickensPlan.com.

–Two ads for EnergyTomorrow.org appeared back-to-back, asking viewers some thought-provoking questions like whether or not they knew where America gets 2/3 of the oil and natural gas that it relies on. (Answer: North America.) The spot encouraged people who were surprised by this news to learn more at the group’s Web site.

–A Chevron commercial pointed out that oil, energy and environment are three huge issues without easy answers. This commercial said that this is not a liberal or conservative issue, but a human issue.  This add, too, asked viewers to learn more at WillYouJoinUs.com.

–ExxonMobil’s ad applauded the company’s latest environmental work by showing an Exxon employee  claiming that he was working on the most important project of his career: removing greenhouse gases.

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Lockheed-Martin added the love fest with a feel-good thought of its own: an ad in which it wished NASA a happy 50th birthday while taking care to note that “…it is the HOW that makes all the difference.”

As far as candidate-specific ads, I saw nothing but Obama-supporting ads after the Biden/Palin debate, including various plugs for BarackObama.com.  McCain ads were nowhere to be found –and I searched all channels rather thoroughly.

Attack ads — again, in Obama’s favor — were plentiful, including this one from the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund in which Sarah Palin is accused of encouraging inhumane treament of animals:

And finally, Obama spoke in his own ad –following the town hall debate against McCain– about his economic policy in this two-minute spot, which I saw three times on three different channels:

Seems like McCain missed the memo on well-placed, timely television ads. Then again, Obama’s larger supply of funds may have allowed him to snatch up these slots immediately following the debates. I’ll be watching next week — the debate AND the commercials afterward.