Can I just say that I hope grouchy, "get off my lawn" McCain shows up tonight?
Poor McCain can't get a break. Obama even won the coin toss.
Loved McCain's direct look into Obama's eyes and genuine smile at the beginning! Wonder how long that took to practice?
Let's count how many times McCain looks at Obama tonight... going to be through the roof after all the fallout from his nastiness last time.
OK, he's not answering the question, which I see on the bottom of my screen - fastest solution to bail out retirees?
"my friends" : 1
"my friends" : 2
McCain made a funny. and he did a nice job with the housing pricing stability proposal.
Did McCain say he'd readjust mortgages to the current market rate?
Hello from Raleigh!
I hate to say it but McCain won that first question to me. I felt like his answer was clearer on what he would do "right now" which is what the Alan asked.
OK, you guys did see that jab. He only looked at Obama so he could say, "Good to see you at A town hall meeting." Then he smirked.
We think it was renegotiation, Marj.
Obama sounding a little too 'faculty' so far.
Love how Obama made the point that Warren Buffet supports him
Damn - Obama is looking him up and down. Love it!
"I suspended my campaign and went back to Washington, where I walked uphill, both ways."
LOL - good one Bethany!
This is where Obama brings up the fact that McCain's campaign manager has been getting lobbying fees from Fannie up until two months ago
Obama has a rebuttal, and a good one. You can tell by the look on his face.
Hi
There you go, T! Good call!
Not just the campaign manager - there's a pantload of McCain staffers - at least four upper level, and 20 more besides that, that were lobbyists for Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac.
I think he's really effective answering this one. "You don't want to hear politicians pointing fingers, but how it will affect you," etc.
Uh oh , directly talking to Obama!
"my friends" : 3
Hi Katherine!
Where is the letter?
i'd like to see some of those letters
He'd have brought it, but Sarah Palin doodled on the back of it.
hee hee hee
this is a tough question to answer directly
I'm not sure I see the logic behind buying up bad mortgages to shore up the housing market.. Unless we can get the Chinese to pay for it..
O lost that one
"I have been a consistent reformer when I'm not voting with Bush 95 percent of the time."
Here's his reformer schtick.
I do like the emphasis they both put on keep people in their jobs and homes. To me that seems the critical issue.
Atleast O knows how to say the same thind over an over without your ever knowing he had said it yesterday somewhere else, everytime McCain talks its the exact same thing he said yesterday... he has a long list of sentences that he has obviously memorized.
Obama missed a chance here... this needed to be more directly about change... he started to go there but didn't go nearly far enough.
Obama's got the smirk again.
And seriously, enough with the my friends. Unless you've sent me a Christmas card, you're not my friend.
Why doesn't McCain just sit on Teresa's lap? He's getting close enough!
"my friends" : 4
I agree, I miss his change message. And Katherine, you are so right. He does have a lot of catch phrases.
omg H, can you imagine?! I want him to put his arm around someone in the audience and have them freak out on him.
"my friends" : 5
"Don't touch me! You smell of OLLLLLD!"
Lieberman: 2 (I guess I should be keeping that tally!)
McCain pushing the bipartisan angle hard, although he keeps bringing up that Republican from Connecticut when he does
McCain has now mentioned Ted Kennedy in both debates.
Note to McCain: Lieberman is not a Democrat.
And pointing out your one Jewish friend you bought is not going to get you Florida.
I confess... I've always liked Tom Brokaw. Something about him just puts me at ease.
reform of entitlement programs: what a load of bs.
McCain: says we won't be able to provide the same amount as today, and will need to take a bi-partisan approach...to what??
health care:
McCain: need to be able to afford premiums.
he didn't say how he would do either of those things
And he's reminding them of the rules. Although, following Republican logic, he should be in the tank for McCain, because he wrote a book about old military folk, since Ifill was biased toward Obama because of her book.
I can't wait for Bob Schieffer next week!!
It occurs to me that as badly as McCain is doing in the polls, maybe all Obama needs to do is to appear presidential here. That was the big indicator for folks watching the first one. Look presidential, sound intelligent, look concerned, and he keeps their votes.
Hey Maggie, just dropping in to say hi. Hope you're well. I like Brokaw too.
This is my first debate this season I'm watching, and I didn't realize how much like Bush McCain is. That's a shame.
I thought McCain couldnt do 2 things at once, isnt that why he suspended his campaign????
Brokaw is about to crack some skulls
lol! maybe that was it, katherine
Darin! More Apexers in the house!
"A spending freeze except for any war I decide to start"
Well, Maggie, think about it - people rarely talk about what Kennedy and Nixon debated about - they talk about Nixon being ill at ease in front of the cameras and scary, and Kennedy's likability. Kennedy simply looked more trustworthy, more presidential.
Don't live beyond your means - Suze Orman's number one thing she tells people in debt. Only buy what you can afford - needs not wants.
what's wrong with an overhead projector? before the digital age those were pretty necessary.
*grins* Yep yep, and a fairly apolitical one to boot. So, for whom should I vote?
Can I just vote for Palin by herself as an independent candidate? That updo has me sold.
McCain's brain right now: Damn it, 9/11 is our schtick.
Bethany, you are killing me tonight!
Darin: http://www.wagreflex.com/2008/10...ostumes-
go.html
H, I'm not even drinking. Yet.
Bethany, that made me nearly spit my debate beer all over my laptop.
Haha!
Obama bringing up the "go shop" thing was smart. What a squandered opportunity. If there was one moment in which every single American was listening to the President it was in the aftermath of 9/11. He should have told every one to go volunteer or get involved.
Glad I could help, Darin!
McCain is left handed! I thought all leftys were awesome like me.... Im so disapointed
No joke, Marjorie. I remember when he said that, thinking, "Shop? A) I don't need permission/a reason for that and B) Shop? Really? Not give blood, or donate to a NYC Firefighter's fund of some sort?"
Okay speaking of (actually this was from the comment about Kennedy's appearance, which is now ancient history)... I was telling Trevor this story earlier and am still giggling about it -- earlier this afternoon Chris Matthews went on the weirdest tangent EVER (and he has some weird ones) equating the way Obama walks with the way Kennedy walked.
Imagine red-faced Matthews, beaming, spouting off phrases like "glides like a cat," "as graceful and for my money more graceful than Kennedy," "elegant beyond compare," etc. Then he talked about how short and stiff McCain is by comparison (war wounds, etc.).
Great answer from Obama on sacrifice, and his response about the unfairness of burden related to an across-the-board cut was right-on.
Nail Jello to a Wall - a Maxine Hallmark card I saw once.
McCain's officially jumped the shark if he's resorting to fictional cranky old women for lines.
these guys are so boring compared to Biden and Palin!
and yes, I thought Biden was pretty interesting.
it amazes me how McCain can continually say Obama is going to raise taxes. he's outright lying.
The nailing jello to the wall bit was a bit crotchety, wasn't it.
I'm listening on the radio--is McCain looking at Obama this time?
And McCain's new tone of voice tonight--sounds like he's trying to sound kinder and gentler--doesn't work for him.
Ohhh...but wait, I can hear his crabby self creeping back in...
Oh, no, Brokaw lays the smackdown!
brokaw just spanked obama a little..
well, they shouldn't agree to a format that doesn't allow rebuttals
"my first term as president" from Obama could be spun badly - presumptuous etc.
How did those audience members keep a straight face on that Obama crack?! I laughed out loud!
i hate this "entitlement" issue. they all talk about it as though we don't spend the money we take in for social security left and right on other things.
I have to say that I'm feeling nostalgic for Biden right now.
Now he's gonna lay out his tax plan. He needs to, however, flat out say, "I WILL NOT RAISE TAXES FOR THE MAJORITY OF CITIZENS AND SMALL BUSINESSES."
Obama is doing a good job right now laying out his tax plan and how McCain misstates it.
But he could've used the all-caps intro. 
Mags - do you think O misspoke and meant his first year?
Its not that hard to fix SS???? WHAT!
Ah yes, social security is an easy fix. everyone knows that...
McCain did not!! He'll answer the question? lol!!
not popular with Americans either
Um, "if it's been done before," r.e. fixing social security, McCain... why is it not fixed?
He's turning into Old Lawn Man now. Awesome.
loving that Old Lawn Man persona
It's easy for him because a) he's happy to get rid of it, and b) he's a maverick!
He's seriously gonna say that again? Seriously? Considering those taxes were included in other bills?
"my friends" : 7
(Trevor tells me I missed one)
John: if that's how you feel about climate change, why did you choose a VP who doesn't believe climate change is human-caused?
there's michelle
John McCain reaching deep into the Sarah Palin Book of Language on this question...
Was it just me, or did it take him a minute to formulate a sentence on that one? And what about his running mate, who thinks climate change is God's work?
Aww... gee... Well, I'll give McCain this.. he says "Nuclear" correctly.
"my friends" : 8
so, what are we at now Maggie? 8 or 9?
but Palin does NOT say it correctly Darin...
Yes. Nuclear energy so clean, until you have to figure out what to do with the waste.
John McCain, meet Love Canal.
JIL: 3 (Joseph Isadore Lieberman)
Um, that dramatic dropped-mike finale was just laughable
Nuclear energy is so green it's glowing.
NICE on McCain's tenure vs. energy progress!!!!
BAM! "He's been there, 26 of those 30 years."
And now let me explain why drill baby drill is a good porn line, but not a good energy policy.
Woo! I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that we can't drill our way out of this crisis.
I had to lift my debate beer to that.
love Obama taking it to mccain on energy policy...it's more effective than mccain trying to take it to obama on the economy...
McCain is a moderator ass kisser!
Oh, good call MB!
Let's play audience bingo: points for audience members dozing off, rolling their eyes, retching...
He sounds like Eddie Haskell, and now he's acting like it, too.
c'mmmm Tom, be an ass to McCain atleast once instead of Obama at every question!
"my friends" : 9 and 10
"my friends" : 11
I think they should give Tom a paint ball gun, and he can just fire at them when they go over the time limit.
He didn't even wave. Woot.
hi vicki!
Do you want a cookie, John?
half way through, this feels like a draw so far...
Hey MArge!
how long is this shindig?
Whoa - where is McCain wandering off too?! Is that an X on bingo?!
but for Obama a tie is a win, right? or is that McCain's line?
Wait, is McCain prowling around in the background? Is that allowed? I thought they were supposed to sit down while the other one answers.
What was that gesture McCain just made to the audience while Obama talked? It looked like a boob cup.
yeah, Obama needs to get back to hope and change, or he needs some zingers.
I was gonna say, McCain doesn't want a cookie, he needs to potty-he's pacing like Amelia when she's doing the 'dance'!
HA!!!
seriously having visions of those Depends commercials right now, MB...
$5000 tax credit, again, only a drop in the bucket McCain when it comes to healthcare!
I swear McCain has had botox...
obama isn't a zinger kind of guy. he's earnest and a little wonky. so if he gives up hope and change, he ain't got a lot of excitement going on.
McCain shouldn't walk across the stage. It only makes him look like one of the walker-using shufflers from the old folks home.
what's he talking about "fine you"?!
$5000 is nothing. Spoken as someone with a couple of preexisting conditions.
I totally agree with the botox...
We have agreement on that $5k tax credit in the house...
$5000 WON'T BUY YOU A HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY!!!
Did he just admit he's had a hair transplant?!
Ooh. Failed joke! Hair transplant.
Dude...I've done the math. $5,000 won't cover it.
And was that hair transplant dig on Biden?
Odd that he makes jokes about his age...
that's a bunch of bs.
not to mention, the thing i hate about this health care debate is that both suck. kids should just simply be automatically covered, period.
I'm with Vicki on that. I'd love a 5k health insurance policy.
Oh, Obama needs to OWN the privilege, right, responsibility question
McCain is so completely out of touch on health care.
Obviously McCain has never seen the actual premium bill for his own health insurance
ha! vicki!
He's a vet. Doesn't he get to go to the VA?
Well, I'm unemployed with pre-existing conditions, and $5000 for health insurance sounds like a weird alternate reality.
Obama is on the right track, helping the employers buy policies for their employees.
I can see Vicki's face as she screams...
As a disabled vet he surely gets VA health services for no cost...
Obama wins on health care hands down.
Uh oh, Brokaw laying down the law
but need to mandate that insurance companies have to offer the same rates for single private policies as they do for a group policy.
Osama Bin Biden is going down.
I could write the bill myself!
amen, vicki. amen.
*snif*
vicki, can you write us a guest blog on health care coverage? seriously!
"my friends" : 12
so clever, Fred
btw, what was McCain's bit about the "fine"? did i miss something?
sure, I get to it....tomorrow while I'm busy taking money back from the hospital and giving it back to the insurance company because they both play with YOUR money back and forth like it's monopoly money!
I wasn't following either, Darin
"my friends" : 13
Maggie, does your count include "My friend" directed just towards Obama?
On the job training! how can he even say that stuff with palin picking her nose in the green room
We don't have time for on the job training? Uh-oh, somebody better enroll Palin in some heavy duty courses.
Bam! That was a great comeback O!
ok, I'll get off that now. We are on to terrorists now...
Yeah, send Palin to Epcot, like the Onion suggests.
lol! yep, moved on vic vic!
"John McCain says there are some things I don't understand. He's right, there are some things I don't understand." Why must he give soundbites to the opposition for free!?!?!
hmmm, I thought I'd gotten all the "my friends" ... are there more?!
McCain all the way...wooo hooo...bitches.
no kidding, trevor. there's also the ubiquitous "mccain is right." it's just so democrat. too nice by far!
no, Maggie, I think the one you counted was a singular my friend as McCain told Obama there wasn't time for on the job training. I think your count stands.
I'm glad I didn't drink every time he said "My friends." I'd be as coherent as Sarah Palin explaining why we bombed Russia to the White House press corps.
poop
Fred...are you trying to get a rise out of us? you got to do better than that!
Fred, you're drunk...time to walk home now.
Let me help you, Fred:
Osama is a Muslin!
my friends!
I bought a new TV for this... blaaahhhh
I have friends. John McCain is not one of them.
I feel an SNL spoof comin on....
"my friends" : now at 15!
Let me guess, a HUGE flat screen?!
A cool hand at the tiller? None of this mumbo jumbo from when you worked the fields with Laura Ingalls dad, John.
yeah, kat. what size is it?
No, it's muslim, and no it's obama.
Notice how obama is close to osama
and Biden is close to Bin Laden
First two letters of Bin, and last three
letters Laden...=Biden
So
Obama+Biden=Osama Bin Laden.
300 brave young marines... very sad, how many have died in Bush's war???
It took you three minutes to come up with that?
Katie looked scaredy
dang fred. i just simply didn't get it. thanks so much for cluing me in. like maggie said...wow, like, you are so clever!
I dont know the actual measurements marj, but its bigggg, and so pretty 
So you know how when McCain's trying to make a big point, and his voice gets all soft and his pronunciation overly emphatic? Yeah, that totally creeps me out.
McCain's uses "darn sure" ... is Palin rubbing off on him?!
wow, we can build lots of coincidental connections between all kinds of people by doing partial word math!
i'm going to buy a new one too. but its going to be a cute little one
I dont know who fred is and I feel left out
Taking Kat's comments out of context is way fun, IJS.
Oct.15th, 3rd debate, where you gonna be, MArge?!
Marjorie ...You're welcome
fred for Secretary of Education
you know, yabba dabba do
walmart... yes i have no other options here in Gilmer so i have to go there, has some nice little ones.
I'd totally take the job.
Did he just say he was friends with Teddy Roosevelt?
oh yeah, where you watchin, Marge? You don't have cable, do you?!
dang vicki...i didn't even realize that was the day. i should have planned to come a day early.
He said Teddy was his hero....I thought Regan was his hero.
at the moment, i'm watching online. its 2008
I have walmart stock
Teddy was his hero because he kept the big boys from giving him swirlies in school.
you gonna ban me now?
Poor Tom.
Okay boys, settle down
no, you guys are our resident walmart moms. you are most welcome
hahahahahah
Maggie, I gotta study for a final. Thanks for having me over.... nice chatting with y'all!
yes, the D's have them too!
It's really irritating me how McCain keeps blurting out out of turn.
What's a walmart mom?
thanks for joining in Darin!
Bye Darin! Loved having you.
Me fred
Bye Darin!
omg, McCain just sounded like Milton from Office Space when he was muttering about his turn and time!
McCain is whining
Did he mention the stapler?
I almost said your mother, Fred, but then I realized she was probably more a Dollar General Mom.
Thanks y'all. Have fun!
McCain sounds like mylah and cam when one of them is fighting over who's turn it is
and a Target mom
Is there something wrong with being a dollar general mom?
hahahaha! No, I'm there every other day!
yes vicki, target is much better
"I'll get 'em... I know how to do it"
Oh really, McCain? INFORMATION THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN USEFUL BEFORE THOUSANDS OF LIVES WERE LOST IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.
Fred, do you now get what "walmart mom" means?
be careful...you got a couple in the room
that's hard to deal with, Kat....
Not at all. Now tie your Nike's with the backwards swoosh, and eat your Slim Jim.
I can only afford dollar general, cause my
welfare checks aren't enough for target. 
The welfare checks obviously allow high speed internet.
DG rocks, LUVS are 49 cents cheaper there.
vicki you are too much!
i have to admit, the dollar store doesn't do much for me...unless i have kids to entertain. but i'm all about tar-jay!
It's annoying me that he says "Tally-ban," I want to break out into the Banana Boat Song.
Hell yeah...I love the gov'ment and the
gov'ment cheese
ONE thing that actually halfway worked in IRAQ.... but we shouldnt have gone there in the first place!
Almost out of time here....10 mins from a draw
McCain's internal dialogue:
"fighting terrorism... la la la... maverick... omg haven't mentioned SURGE yet!"
all McCain's got is the surge. so he has to hammer it
McCain looks like he has a fake face mask on.
We're not gonna have a cold war with Russia, because Sarah Palin can see it from Alaska. She's keeping an eye on them.
"OK, the audience didn't get that KGB joke last time, but I bet they will this time."
ha!! maggie...too good!
Georgia is not a democracy so much. There are plenty of examples of their intolerance toward different religions, for instance.
Obama's tired... just dropped that bad agree word again... losing steam here
He needs to quit saying he agrees with McCain. He needs to quit the shortcut, and restate his plan - and the addendums.
Obama needs to get back to inspiring people.
I think Osama...I mean Obama lost this
one.
I agree with Trevor - it's a draw. If I was an undecided voter, I'd still be undecided.
but he's just sexy...
yes or no Obama!
A draw, but Obama is ending much weaker than he began... that'll hurt the punditry
good question!
Well it was fun "chatting" with all you walmart moms. I now have to go poop.
He did it, Mags!!! Almost a hug!
Eek, the touching makes me uncomfortable... such a ploy
At the end of the yes/no question we saw the McCain that I like. I don't think this campaign has shown us his best side.
Bam Bam Bam!!
NO TOUCHING!!!
vicki, the imagery of that is too much!
I don't think McCain should gesture so much. It makes him look old and gimpy.
Dude, you totally got old on me.
Agreed, Bethany-I'm only looking up from my laptop when Obama speaks because I couldn't watch McCain thrash.
Obama finding a little mojo again... I like it
I was just saying goodbye to fred....with my LARGE club...
Barack Obama does not understand, my friends, my friend.
this is my land...this is your land...
love the Zen
Michelle! We love you!
(Such a fan)
yeah , she rocks...
Tom, I'm gonna ignore that question, and just deliver my closing statement instead...
we need change...all you gotta say, bro.
trevor, i was just thinking that. but the question was unanswerable. i like it...and a precedent was already set!
McCain def had the advantage in being able to think about how to answer that one while Obama "closed"
did I read that George W. Bush's cousin was an executive at Lehman Bro's?! And he scoffed at the notion that the executives forgo their bonuses?!
I like how John McCain can talk about the future, without a trace of irony as the cold, clammy hand of death gently pushes him as he perambulates awkwardly around the stage.
and here comes vietnam!!
*giggling*
no, i didn't see that vicki. can you send me the link?
name is George H. Walker...Google it...that family's a bunch of crooks, stolen us all blind!
the pessimist in me says 10-9 McCain cuz he finished stronger, but plenty to spin on both sides, and most importantly no gaffe from Obama...all in all doesn't change much i don't think.
agreed - overall a draw, points to McCain for the end.
Yes I think McCain slightly too this one
Wonkette predicts: John McCain’s last and most dramatic campaign gesture will be to stroke out, onstage, in the third debate.
can u believe it? I couldn't believe what I was reading at first, but then I remembered who we are talking about..W and his crooked family.
i think these debates help McCain because he otherwise seems so, to use Obama's word, erratic. a wild card.
Yeah, if McCain had gone first, it would've been a draw.
Ok - how bizarre do you have to be if Chris Matthews points it out?
i will look that up for sure, thanks!
PBS - nothing to change the momentum here, no big jabs, no gaffes
Did John and Cindy already leave?
Matthews talks about the bizarro "Not YOU Tom," moment.
Matthews says McCain is too chicken to talk about Ayers, and assigned it to Sarah Palin.
"That he wouldn't do the dirty work tonight, and he's somewhat embarrassed about it."
CNN - there needed to be a breakthrough, wasn't one tonight. Feeling like a draw.
it's been fun! i'll be back next week! will you have your little tv by then Marge? The internet shows the debate 10 seconds behind...
Maddow: Obama wasn't looking for a fight, McCain was. So true.
Maddow: "Obama wasn't looking for a fight, and McCain was."
that's the role of the VP candidate though. they do the dirty work. and she's happy to.
i was thinking today that its a shame biden had to exit the stage...he did so well last week that i think its a missed opportunity.
I be in shre' po' tomorrow, i try to call yu.
i will, vicki. thanks for joining in! i noticed that also...NYT.com doesn't seem to have the lag though so i switched to that.
I think it's telling that the Obamas are still there, talking and shaking hands, and John and Cindy are gone.
can I rent sex n the city movie n watch on your large screen, kat?
that would be great. let's touch base on the phone!
Wow...Buchanan said what you said Maggie - that Obama appeared presidential.
That's amazing that the McCains left. This is really something.
k.
'n body notice Bush's nose looks longer than it did 8 years ago...
Pat Buchanan's political analysis can be really good, particularly regarding strategy... you have to sift it out of his crazy, but he knows his stuff much of the time
Cindy's mad at Obama, that's why they left.
I thought maybe MSNBC was only showing shots of the Obamas but the McCains DID leave. I agree, it's awesome that the Obamas are still there
Why would you want your picture with someone who is not going to be president? These people will leave in the tank for Obama.
SMART to stay.
lol! who do you think is in charge, vicki? john or cindy?
Only MSNBC is showing the Obamas meeting folks while the McCains are gone... too bad
I thought the same thing Bethany. I surely wouldn't want my picture with McCain!
CNN is showing it online. it really does say something.
PickensPlan.com is talking about the debate. Who wants to talk with T.Boone on the Internets??
Not me.
Seriously, I can't imagine why they would leave EARLY! Or even first, an hour later!
Because if you oversleep, you can't get the Early Bird at Denny's.
I love how some of those people have disposable cameras.
I think they were under everyone's chairs... a great touch by Belmont!
Smart!
Ok, it's now a game on my blog. Where was John McCain going?
http://eleventybillionthblog.blo.../10/
debate.html
This was fun, thanks guys!
msnbc focus group seems to be leaning obama... cnn focus group still coming in...
wonkette says C-SPAN is all over the McCains leaving.
GOOD!
interesting how these little things, like the McCain's leaving right away, will resonate.
Debate 1: McCain Doesn't Look at Obama
Debate 2: McCain Left Instead of Personally Meeting Undecided Voters
Keith Olbermann: Not helpful for post-debate analysis.
But CNN is fantastic... love their big roundtable.
Plus: Campbell Brown's hair is fab
I'm without a tv at the moment so am no longer watching. my house is pretty bare actually. i mean, i still have a lot of stuff, but it feels bare.
But but..Maddow's on Olbermann.
CNN #S OUT!!!
Obama best job 54-30
McCain's favorable/unfavorable #s unchanged post-debate
More #s coming in...
I can't believe the Forrester house now has only one M living in it!! But yay for them!
CNN mentioning how badly the McCains leaving early is playing with poll respondents
folks freaking out about McC's use of "that one"
i noticed that when he did it.
yeah, me too... was in the middle of another comment, but it prickled me a bit
This is Ruth Ann speaking not Jerry. I watched and listened to the entire debate tonight and I saw and heard good on both sides. John did NOT smirk when he said to Obama "good to see you at a town hall meeting". I am appalled at some of the things I have read here. And I'm saying this knowing that 2 of my daughters said some of it. Why can't ya'll give McCain credit for being a good, decent American the same as Obama is? And by the way, God DOES control the climate. So I guess that I am crazy too.
msnbc putting way too much gloss on Maddow these days, methinks
Maggie, your wish is my command. There's now an actual poll.
CNN POLLS:
Who'd better handle the economy? Obama 59. Who'd better handle a fiscal crisis? Obama 57.
WOW.
sorry mom. there were three of us, by the way. i actually did say some nice things about mccain, but out of 350 messages or so, its probably easy to miss them.
Sorry, Mrs. Childress. I liked him much more eight years ago, I will admit.
Go take Bethany's poll!
Love it!
Everyone is talking about how creepy he was today. I've looked at three blogs, and two channels. All say McCain's attempt at warm and friendly came off weird and creepy.
Sorry Mrs. Childress. I liked McCain 2000, if that counts.
CNN now debating: "Is it game over for McCain?"
And Gergen said if he was white, yes. But because he's black and this is America, we hang on for another month and wait and see.
More CNN #s, and Obama is just blowing McCain away in every category.
Obama more likable than McCain, 65-25?!?!?! WOW.
Obama winning on the leadership question, too. BIG.
These 'debates' should just end. The whole thing is broken. It was over when Allen asked the first question and no one went anywhere near it.
And if we're gonna have the public ask questions, which I like, could they be screened for "answerability?!" And the second Brokaw said, 'this is a yes or a no question, you knew stupid was on the way.
Is Russia still an Evil Empire?! WHAT IS THAT????!!!!!
What a night of crap. Two empty (if honorable) suits on auto dial...
Gene, I love when you get all curmudgeon-y, and you write exactly like you'd scream in person.
Let's dream up a new way to "debate." Seriously... what hasn't been done? What should be done?
If the candidates can't do a lot of back and forth rebuttals, its boring.
ps If anyone's interested, Heather was wondering if our Fred Flinstone was from NC, but nope... his IP address is all yours, Albuquerque!!!
Begala now professing that Obama has a 'highly developed sense of irony' ... CNN pundits getting goofy
Signing off folks... thanks for playing! Probably couldn't watch this stuff without you all, seriously.
it was great, maggie! *see* you next week
as to Fred, i figured as much. he was way to familiar.
this is jerry ...quietly...i agree with gene above...i remember seeing the jfk tricky dick debates in 1960...since then we more and more elect someone with "showmanship'...you have to take acting and speech lessons now.....sad
i'd love to have seen that debate. and what you say is very true. they spent a fair amount of time over the past couple of days just practicing how to come across during this town hall, when it comes to body language.
Here's a really interesting comment on the financials of the debate by a non-b.s. finance writer I like:
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich...bout-your-
money
(Note that he's not talking about minimum wage workers when he's talking about debt, that's a different game. He's talking about the middle class that the candidates are most likely aiming their speeches at)
I gotta calm down on these things. Makes me write in caps. Ugh.
I wish I had an answer for a new way because at this point any question/format/whatever is just gonna start the chip in their heads in response.
Personally I'd like to see them both in a room alone, talking/questioning each other. That, however, ain't happening anytime soon.
Part of the problem is the expectation/set up for these things. And then the equally vapid post/re-cap. Example: 'no one landed a knock out punch.' What? There's no such thing possible!!
Or my favorite, 'this performance by X didn't change the race.' Please.
BTW, just listened to Biden in Tampa, and he was rocking hard. Best of him in a long time.
OK. Now I am just plain in awe:
http://www.thatone08.com/
BTW, just listened to BO at the Indiana State Fair. Oustanding.
He's turned a corner brilliantly. it was uplifting, hopeful, positive...everything peeps love about BO but has been missing due to circumstances the last bit of time.
Palin and McCain later today...
From Bethany: Statement on that planetarium McCain kept bringing up - http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/
...aboutdebate.pdf.
So MSNBC reports that McCain actually said "my friends" 22 times. I let you all down with my measly 15.
I bet they counted all the times he used it in the singular form. And that is WRONG.
Don't let anyone tell you that you're wrong! Not Trevor, not anyone, and not Trevor!
interesting "battle of the story" work done by some friends of mine at Smartmeme and PCN on bailout v rescue language on financial crisis. worth a look if you are having a hard time splainin to people what's going on out there...
Being the only ice hockey fan here, I just gotta throw in on the hilarity of Sarah Palin scheduled to drop the ceremonial puck at the Philadelphia Flyers home opener.
This could be an epic moment that'll make the Couric thing seem like a documentary. Even the Politico, of all places, has it figured out. Why? Philly fans are h-a-r-d core haters of All Things Not Philly:
From Politico:
The Philadelphia Flyers’ decision to invite self-described hockey mom Sarah Palin to drop the ceremonial first puck at the team’s home opener on Saturday night is prompting head-scratching in the worlds of sports and politics.
"For Republicans — who are clinging to diminishing hopes that Palin and her running mate, John McCain, can carry Pennsylvania — a less-than-warm welcome from the notoriously unruly Philly fans could be embarrassing to the GOP ticket.
A cascade of boos for Palin might also prove to be a PR nightmare for the Flyers, reinforcing yet again Philly fans’ reputation for boorishness, and focusing unwanted attention on the motives of the teams’ managing partner, big GOP donor Ed Snider...
...And he added, “I am surprised that the candidate would go on the ice in Philly — Philly fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus and booed Beyonce because she was wearing a Michael Jordan dress. This is dangerous territory.”
And:
"In addition to rough welcomes for Santa Claus and pop star Beyonce, Philadelphia fans, arguably the most unforgiving in American professional sports, cheered as an opposing team’s star player lay motionless on the turf after sustaining what turned out to be a career-ending neck injury, threw batteries at a player who refused to sign with the Phillies baseball team and last month jeered their own mascot for dropping a foul ball.
An independent pro-Palin blog worried “Uh-oh, did anyone warn Sarah about Philadelphia fans?”
HA!! This is a bad, bad, bad idea.
Vegas sports books have it listed "Booing (+170) vs Cheering"
Ooh, I'm intrigued... when's the game?
Saturday night. The local blogs are agog already. Couple samples:
Boo her? She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t get pelted with a barrage of hot dogs and beer cups.
What part of the Main Line are you from? This is Philly! We have no calss [SIC] and we’re proud of it!
And:
Would it be totally inappropriate to hope someone drives a Zamboni over her? (yeah, ok probably, but a girl can dream)
I got even money they cancel this before Saturday...
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