TtP Debate Drunkblogging - What the Fuck? '08, Part III: Temples of Boom

Okay, we are at the third and final presidential debate. Since these debates began Barack Obama has taken a double digit lead over McCain in most polls. In other words all Obama needs to do tonight is resist the urge to whip it out on stage and he's on the glide path to the presidency.

Okay, let's review the title fight.

The Heavy Favorite: Barack "Yes, I Can Bitches" Obama. Despite losing the first round, he is way up on points over all, having rope-a-doped his opponent very effectively. Granted, no one knows who he is and he has no record to speak of, but that's what is going to make his presidency so exciting.

The Longshot: John "I'd Rather Be Back in the Hanoi Hilton" McCain. He's far behind and this is his last shot. The big question: will he make this a suicide mission and attack with all he's got or will he just strategically withdrawal and accept defeat?

9:04 PM EST: Bob Schieffer starts off with a low, easy softball to both candidates: Why is your health care plan best? McCain starts off by smacking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Nice to hear that but he follows that by plugging his expensive mortgage recovery plan. One step forward, one step back.

9:11 PM EST: Obama says we need an economic plan for the middle class then follows with a blizzard of wonkery regarding his plan. McCain then launches into a clearly rehearsed bit involving a plumber named Joe "trying to realize the American dream" that Obama supposedly met. McCain says he will stand up for Joe. No word on whether Joe's last name was "Six-pack".

9:14 PM EST: Obama tries to outflank McCain on tax cutting. McCain hits back, saying Obama told Joe the Plumber he wanted "to spread the wealth around". McCain wants to let Joe the Plumber spread the wealth around. Presumably through his own business.

9:16 PM EST: Obama: "Nobody likes to pay taxes. I'd like it if I could make it that nobody has to pay taxes again." If only there were some office Obama could get elected to where he could actually put that idea in motion ...

9:18 PM EST: So far, this is really boring. Advantage: Obama.

9:19 PM EST: Schieffer: What part of your own spending plans would cut in light of the financial crisis? Jim Lehrer asked that same question and both candidates dodged it then, as they do now. McCain does promise an across-the-board spending freeze and promises to cut ethanol subsidies. So he offers a few specifics. Good for him.

9:24 PM EST: McCain: "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." Well, McCain is angry at least. We could have a bloodbath yet. Here's hoping.

9:28 PM EST: McCain says they could have avoided the recent nastiness of the campaigns if only Obama had agreed to the town hall meetings. The camera catches Obama smirking. And why not? He's winning. He's probably thinking of the champagne back in his hotel suite.

9:31 PM EST: McCain calls on Obama to repudiate the recent attacks by Congressman John Lewis basically accusing McCain of having a white sheet in his closet. Obama blows him off and says they should talk about the issues the American people want to talk about. McCain keeps pressing Obama on Lewis. Obama concedes it might have been "inappropriate." He then goes back to how the American people want to get away from the tit-for-tat. God damn, the man is smooth. He's gotta rein in the smirking though.

9:39 PM EST: Bill Ayers and ACORN come up. Obama roundly condemns Ayer's "despicable" acts, but for some reason does not call them "terrorist" acts. Hmmm ... On ACORN, he says, "They had nothing to do with us." Well, except for the the $800,000 Obama paid them.

9:47 PM EST: McCain says Canadian oil is fine, Venezuelan oil, not so much. Must be something in the chile peppers they grow down there.

9:52 PM EST: Obama: "I believe in free trade but ..." then launches into a about three pages worth of Big Labor talking points about how free trade is ruining America and NAFTA and other deals must be reversed. It's all bullshit, but he does sell it well.

9:54 PM EST: McCain says free trade is a "no-brainer". I agree, but I would have phrased it rather differently.

9:58 PM EST: Obama is happy. The dude cannot stop grinning. He thinks he's winning and he's probably right, but he's losing his cool, detached demeanor about it. Maybe he'll drop his guard and say something genuinely interesting. Here's hoping.

10:00 PM EST: Maybe he just did. I just heard Obama talk about "negotiating directly with the drug companies". That's liberalspeak for imposing price controls on the pharmaceutical industry. It probably flies past most people though.

10:03 PM EST: Both candidates talk directly to Joe the Plumber about their healthcare plan. Who will win Joe's vote? Never has so much ridden on the back of man best known for showing people the crack of his ass.

10:06 PM EST: McCain speaks briefly about "gold-plated cadillacs". Alas it is just a metaphor. My hopes for the first presidential debate on pimping your ride are dashed.

10:09 PM EST: McCain touts his votes for Supreme Court Justices Ginsberg and Breyer, two of the most liberal judges. Right-wingers across the country gnash their teeth in frustration.

10:14 PM EST: I'm finishing Dewars on the rocks number 5. The debate isn't looking any better. In 2012, I think I'll have to start using Absinthe.

10:17 PM EST: Obama: "Sexuality is sacred." Man, what did they do at those Reverend Wright services?

10:19 PM EST: Obama says education is a "national security" issue. He says, "There has been a debate between more money and reform. I think we should do both." Expect more of the former and a lot less of the latter.

10:21 PM EST: McCain responds on education by touting charter schools. Good, solid answer. Very dull too. I gotta give him some points though for saying that some of the best-funded schools have the worst performance. Obama returns to saying we have got to spend, spend, spend on schools. That sound you hear is the teachers unions shouting "cha-ching!"

10:28 PM EST: And that is it on the debate. Both men get final remarks. McCain goes first.

10:29 PM EST: McCain touts his history of fighting his own party and being a "careful steward" of the people's tax dollars. Is it just me or are those reasons to keep him in the Senate?

10:31 PM EST: Obama says "we need fundamental change in this country." Well, I never saw that one coming ... To be specific, he's for good things for the American people and their children. That's good to know.

10:32 PM EST: And that's it, the debate is over. Oh, thank God. I was getting ready to break into the vodka ...

The Wrap-Up: Pretty much a draw from my perspective. I liked McCain better on substance especially when Obama made it clear he's just another big government hack. But McCain didn't make the case that strongly -- certainly not as strongly as he needed to. He took several shots at Obama but never landed a real haymaker. Obama remains as smooth as an ice-cold brew on a hot summer afternoon. Even when he was saying some socialist bullshit I had a hard time getting upset. If I was an undecided voter (i.e., ignorant moron) I would have been confused but thought that Obama's ideas sounded okay. If Obama had a problem it was that he has become too confident, even cocky. The dude grinned more than Kate Moss at a cocaine taste-testing. But then people like their heroes to be cocky and confident. So the winner is Obama, by split decision.

So, prepare for four supremely chill years in the White House.

Standing Athwart History, Saying "Yes We Can"

I'm a little late to notice this, but Christopher Buckley, son of the late William F. Buckley, has endorsed Barack Obama mostly because he just doesn't like John McCain much anymore:

A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?

Buckley is less convincing explaining why he is supporting Obama though since he admits he doesn't share Obama's liberalism. Still, Buckley says Obama is a Harvard man and all and his books prove that he is very well-spoken, so that's good enough.

This endorsement has resulted in Buckley dropping the humor column he penned for National Review. Over in Slate, Timothy Noah tries to make a bigger deal out of this than it is. The younger Buckley, unlike his father, has never been a major conservative figure or even a very stalwart one: He called for the Republicans to lose in 2006 too. Having said that, it is hard to disagree with Buckley's assessment of the current state of the Right:

While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. ... So, to paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan: I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.

Mortgage Meltdown Update: What's Another $300 Billion?

Somehow while drunkblogging the debate, TtP managed to miss the one big piece of news that came out of it: McCain has proposed his own $300 billion housing plan. That's on top of the the $700 billion that Congress agreed to last week. The Wall Street Journal has the details:

McCain’s mortgage plan would have Treasury buy up $300 billion in actual mortgages. It differs from the Frank-Dodd plan by using Treasury as a direct financing source–a solution that is more plausible today because Treasury has already become a direct financing source for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has loaned $85 billion to American International Group, and is providing a credit line to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The $700 billion bailout, or troubled assets relief program, dubbed as TARP, would buy only the mortgage securities that are weighing down the banks, not mortgages themselves. The problem, as McCain proponents see it, is that this doesn’t stem the tide of homeowners defaulting on their mortgages. When homeowners default, the value of the mortgage-backed securities keeps falling, which makes them riskier to the banks and even harder to sell. In essence, the McCain proponents believe in helping the problem at its source.

The problem with this plan is that it really is a bailout. The federal government would be using taxpayer dollars to refinance these mortgages. At least in the Paulson-Bernanke plan we are buying the securities and then reselling them. We'll get some of the money back. McCain's plan directly rewards people who took out mortgages they could not afford. Then again, the WSJ story indicates it may be the best solution. So we're screwed.

UPDATE: As the Politico reports, McCain has made a subtle but important change to the plan that makes it considerably more expensive:

When McCain sprang his surprise idea at the start of the debate in Nashville, his campaign posted details online of his American Homeownership Resurgence Plan, which would direct the government to buy up bad home mortgages, allowing strapped people to keep their property.

The document posted and e-mailed by the McCain campaign on Tuesday night says at the end of its first full paragraph: “Lenders in these cases must recognize the loss that they’ve already suffered.”

So the government would buy the mortgages at a discounted rate, reflecting the declining value of the mortgage paper.

But when McCain reissued the document on Wednesday, that sentence was missing, to the dismay of many conservatives.

That would mean the U.S. would pay face value for the troubled documents.

TtP Debate Drunkblogging - What the Fuck? '08, Round Two

Okay, here we are for the second of the three debates. Because of the problems we had last week with the Palin-Biden debate, Rob and I are doing separate posts. So TtP readers are getting two drunkbloggers for the price of ... well, nothing really, you cheap bastards.

Who do we have on our title fight tonight?

The returning champion -- Barack "Smooth Like Kahlua" Obama. I scored the last debate as a win for McCain but a lot of people disagreed and now Obama has a sizable lead in the polls. Apparently the man is just so badass he cannot lose. Expect him to hold back tonight, knowing he just has to keep from being knocked out and he'll retain his belt.

The desperate challenger -- John "Night of the Living Dead" McCain. The old guy is down 8 points in the polls and this may be his last chance to turn this thing around. So don't be surprised if he goes apeshit on Obama tonight. His only chance is to do to the Chosen One what the Vietcong did to him for five years.

8:52 p.m. EST -- I'm watching Fox News tonight. Mort "Master of the Fucking Obvious" Kondracke is saying the Obama will try to link McCain to Bush and McCain will try to say that Obama is too liberal.

8:58 p.m. EST -- Brit Hume says Obama must come across as "well-spoken". Hey, he said it, not me ...

9:02 p.m. EST -- And the gladiators have returned to the coliseum ...

9:06 p.m. EST -- I had forgotten how much I hate Brokaw's voice. Why does the guy always sound so constipated? Seriously, I keep thinking he'll split to drop a duece in the john at any second.

9:08 p.m. EST -- 60 seconds in and Obama says the economy is Bush and McCain's fault. Drink!

9:09 p.m. EST -- I disagree with the conventional wisdom that McCain excells in these forums. He's shorter than Obama and his war injuries make him look like a hunchback at times. PLUS, he said "my friends". Drink!

9:11 p.m. EST -- McCain flubs his first joke, saying he wouldn't pick Tom Brokaw as Treasury Secretary. He then says Warren Buffet has helped to stabilize the economy and he's Obama's friend too. Damn, just a few minutes in and he's already falling behind.

9:14 p.m. EST -- McCain defends suspending his campaign, claiming he improved the bailout package. Well, if you're crazy try to make people think there is a method to the madness, I guess ...

9:18 p.m. EST -- McCain: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "the matches that started this fire." He accuses Obama and his Democratic cronies of refusing to reign in the Fannie and Freddie. Obama says nu-huh it was McCain and his deregulatory buddies. Oh, and Fannie and Freddie lobbyists now work for McCain. Smooth ...

9:19 p.m. EST -- Obama says the reform bill McCain touted earlier was never passed. Well, yeah. Democrats blocked it. This bit he neglects to mention ...

9:21 p.m. EST -- Obama is so smooth tonight, I fully expect that he will not only win but he'll sell every audience member a new Honda Accord Hybrid and a set of steak knives.

9:23 p.m. EST -- "Senator Obama has never stood up to the leaders of his party." It's a good line. It would be better if McCain weren't breathing so heavy. He's just this close to sounding like Darth Vader.

9:26 p.m. EST -- McCain says "my friends". Drink.

9:28 p.m. EST -- Fox News cut away for a second to Obama while McCain spoke. Obama was smirking.

9:29 p.m. EST -- Obama says McCain would continue Bush's economic policies. Drink.

9:30 p.m. EST -- McCain promises to eliminate agencies and even whole departments of the government. The first actually libertarian point made tonight. "We are going to have to tell people that spending is going to have to be cut." He promises an across the board freeze.

9:33 p.m. EST -- I am disappointed. Where is the mean, nasty, my-enemies-are-scum McCain? Somebody slip the guy some viagra, stat!

9:36 p.m. EST -- Obama: "I disagree with McCain on an across-the-board spending freeze." So he just conceded that there will no shrinking the government in his administration. No surprise, but surprising to hear him say it it out loud.

9:39 p.m. EST -- Brokaw is being supremely anal about sticking to the format. Come on Tom, you're supposed to be a pro. You know that's just a jumping off point. Let them fight! I want to see blood on the floor. Maybe even folding chairs flying around.

9:42 p.m. EST -- Obama completely dodges a question on entitlement reform, spewing forth a stream of verbal diarrhea on taxes and the budget. In response, McCain calls for something like ... the military base closing commission. I know what he's getting at -- a bipartisan group that suggests a take-it-or-leave-it solution -- but I think the reference flies over most people's heads. Plus, he says "my friends" twice. Drink and drink.

9:46 p.m. EST -- McCain: "I was on Navy ships that had nuclear reactors. I know it is safe and clean." I think it's a good point and I agree; we could use more nuclear power. I just wish that point was made by somebody that still has all of his hair. Also he says "my friends". Drink.

9:50 p.m. EST -- McCain hits Obama for voting for the Bush-Cheney energy bill while he opposed it. He also says drilling is necessary to bridge the gap before we switch to green technologies. Good lines. Maybe he's not dead yet. Plus, he said "My friends." Drink.

9:53 p.m. EST -- Obama is a frighteningly good salesman for socializing health care. He says McCain's plan is "not the kind of change America needs." Drink.

9:56 p.m. EST -- McCain makes the pitch for his health care tax credit fairly well and hits Obama for the the implicit government mandates in his problem. Obama says flat-out healthcare should be "a right for every American." And he hits McCain for opposing expansion of SCHIP, the federal children's health program. And a good thing McCain did, too, 'cause it was a back door way of expanding federal control of health care by making teenagers and young adults "children". It's always for the children, isn't it?

10:02 p.m. EST -- McCain says the U.S. military is the greatest force for good in the world. Cue the swelling John Williams score. Plus, he says "my friends" twice. Drink and drink.

10:06 p.m. EST -- Obama tries a repeat of his last debate smackdown on the decision to go to war in Iraq. McCain looks like he wants a baseball bat.

10:08 p.m. EST -- Obama takes the bold stance that he would have acted to prevent the Holocaust if he was president in the 1940s. McCain promises to bring the troops home in victory and prevent genocide. Leadership requires a "cool hand on the tiller," he says. Are you referring to yourself senator? I'm confused. McCain also says, "my friends" twice. Drink and drink.

10:12 p.m. EST -- Question should we launch strikes in Pakistan without their permission? Sheesh. That's a softball. Obama knocks it out of the park, promising to kill Osama bin Laden. McCain says, yes, we should do this but we just should not announce that we are doing it. Ahh ...

10:16 p.m. EST -- Obama points to McCain and says, "This is the guy who said, 'Bomb, bomb Iran.'" Drink. McCain: "I was joking with a veteran friend." He says, "My friends". Drink.

10:23 p.m. EST -- McCain: "I looked into Putin's eyes and I saw a K, a G and a B." Careful, dude, Putin knows Judo and he likes to get sweaty and shirtless. Who knows what could happen if he got you alone ...

10:26 p.m. EST -- Obama says if we only go green, then we can rob Putin and Russia of petro dollars. Is he serious? Does he really believe that?

10:29 p.m. EST -- McCain: "We would not wait for the UN special council" to aid the Israelis if Iran attacks 'cause Russia and China would say no. Well, you cannot say it was not a clear answer. Again he comes down hard against a second holocaust. He says my friends twice. Drink three times. Obama says we should use all the tools to prevent that scenario then jives all over the place. He would go into "talks" to tell them to stop.

10:32 p.m. EST -- Brokaw's last question reveals that he dropped acid before the debate: "What don't you know and how will you learn it?" Obama says his wife could tell you. Sharp answer, funny, then segues into his stump speech. If he doesn't become president he could become an awesome cognac pitchman.

10:34 p.m. EST -- McCain: "I know what it is like to keep going in dark times." Like the last two or three weeks of your campaign?

10:36 p.m. EST -- And the crowd applauds wildly. Because it is over.

10:48 p.m. EST -- Whoa, George McGovern appears in an ad opposing the Big Labor-backed card check bill. That's coup for whatever business lobby recruited him.

Wrap: I'm watching Mitt Romney right now on Fox News. Asked if tonight was a game-changer for McCain, Romney said, "Well, we'll see tomorrow." And that was the guy on McCain's side ...

Obama won, pretty decisively. The townhall format was supposed to favor McCain. I don't think it did. It accentuated his physical infirmities while Obama got a chance to look tall, handsome and healthy. The only thing Obama lacked was a runway to strut on.

I liked McCain better on substance but both gave good performances and Obama made good cases for his plans. The main problem: no fireworks, no excitement. For a campaign that needed to turn things around McCain just didn't do enough. What's the point of having a batshit crazy candidate if he cannot go batshit crazy when he needs to?

Debate Drinking Game Rules

You must drink every time:

1- Obama mentions “change”.
2- McCain addresses the audience as “my friends”.
3- Obama says electing McCain is giving four more years to George W. Bush (or some variation on that).
4- Bill Ayers is mentioned.
5- Charles Keating is mentioned (Or the Keating Five).
6- Bombing Pakistan or Iran is mentioned.
7- Obama refers to himself as “we”.
8- McCain references his POW years.

This will ensure that by the time the debate is over you will be as bombed as Tehran will be in about two years.

Prepare For Four Supremely Chill Years

How badly are things going for John McCain? Karl Rove is now predicting that Obama will win it. His latest tally of the electoral college gives Obama 273 votes, three more than needed to win.

TtP Debate Drunkblogging -- What the Fuck? '08

Because Rob is indisposed (see below) I'm going to try to pinch hit for him tonight and blog the debate. This is the first time I've tried this, so bear with me.

So, who's in our title fight tonight?

Barack "The Iceman" Obama: One-term Democratic senator from Illinois; former Chicago lawyer and community organizer. Often compared to Jesus Christ by his followers, though they really want to avoid the "martyrdom" thing.

What does he bring to the fight? He's tall, handsome and well-spoken (yes, I said it), and noted for his supremely chill attitude. The big question? Is he too chill for his own good? This isn't a GQ shoot after all.

Experience? He went 22 debate rounds with Hillary Rodham "Plenty Likable" Clinton and came out on top. Well, not on her but you know what I mean. Still, he never landed a knock out blow, instead winning by decision.

John "Ol' Cranky" McCain: Four-term Republican senator from Arizona; former congressman, Navy liaison to Congress; Vietnam aviator and resident of the Hanoi Hilton, 1967-73. Often compared to John Wayne by his fans, except he prefers killing Arabs to Native Americans.

What does he bring to the fight? He has a unique combination of war hero gravitas (he fought in Vietnam) and being willing to fight rough and even dirty (he fought in Vietnam) and a capacity to just go batshit crazy (he fought in Vietnam).

Experience? Spent years after 2000 being hated by the Bush administration, Republicans in Congress and the conservative opinion journal/radio talk show world for supporting campaign finance reform, opposing the Bush tax cuts and supporting pro-immigrant immigration reform, among other things. He then won the nomination and beat them into submission.

Time: 8:05 p.m. EST Okay, I've got a bottle of Dewars open and plenty of ice in the fridge. The TV is tuned to CNN. We're ready to go.

Time: 8:11 p.m. EST Christiane Amanpour is discussing foreign policy. She's got those dusky good looks and a sultry British accent. Is it wrong for me to think, I'd hit that?

Time: 8:15 p.m. EST The commercials include a trailer for Oliver Stone's upcoming George W. Bush biopic. Looks like it is going to be a camp classic. Like Striptease but with less boobies. Or maybe not. With Oliver Stone you never know.

Time: 8:23 p.m. EST Technical glitch there for a minute, but things look okay now. During the interim, John Lennon sang the praises of Cisco Systems. Right now, oilman T. Boone Pickens is talking directly to viewers asking for federal subsidies for his windfarms.

Time: 8:28 p.m. EST CNN is reporting that congressional negotiations on the bailout package are back on track. So breathe easy folks, Congress is on the verge of sending $700 billion to Wall Street. That'll teach 'em to never to do it again.

Time: 8:32 p.m. EST Bill Bennett says he hopes that McCain talks about the surge. Yeah, I was wondering about that myself.

Time: 8:39 p.m. EST CNN shows us one of their focus groups, 32 supposedly all-American types. From what I can see, they are mostly fat couch potatoes, so yeah, they look all-American.

Time: 8:43 p.m. EST Factoid of the Moment: CNN points out that no Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio. So if McCain shows up in a Cleveland Browns jersey, we'll know why.

Time: 8:51 p.m. EST Gloria Borger handicaps the fight: "McCain is a street fighter and Obama is a constitutional lawyer" His nuance may be lost on viewers. Ah, the perils of being too smart.

Time: 8:52 p.m. EST My question: Whose fucking idea was it to have a debate on a Friday in the first place? Who is watching this anyway?

Time: 8:54 p.m. EST CNN reports that the Wall Street Journal ran an ad on its website by the McCain/Palin campaign claiming they won the debate. The McCain campaign says the Journal ran the ad in error. Well, no shit. So what the fuck happened? I dunno. CNN moved on to something else.

Time: 8:56 p.m. EST Programming note: I have switched from whiskey to vodka. I'll need all the power I can get to make it through this.

Time: 9:00 p.m. EST Okay, and the candidates have come on the stage and touched gloves. We are ready to go.

Time: 9:05 p.m. EST And the first question in the foreign policy debate is about fiscal policy and the bailout ...

Time: 9:07 p.m. EST Obama says he is for a bailout so long as it is good for homeowners and the American people. Glad we cleared that up. He adds a shot at McCain as essentially responsible for the crisis because he is with Bush, you know. So he went about 60 seconds before he made a partisan jab.

Time: 9:09 p.m. EST McCain opens with a shout-out to Ted Kennedy, who is back in the hospital. Classy. Not much substance otherwise though.

Time: 9:11 p.m. EST Obama claims he foresaw the mortgage crisis last year and warned about it. He throws in another anti-Bush jab too. He doesn't answer Jim Lehrer's question about whether he'd support the congressional deal though. McCain says he "hopes" he will.

Time: 9:14 p.m. EST McCain defends his call to fire SEC chairman Chris Cox. "We have lost the sense of accountability," he says. Surprising move, but he's making the best of what a lot people thought was a crazy idea.

Time: 9:14 p.m. EST A French expat friend calls me about the debate. She doesn't like McCain at all, but thinks he's winning, even though we are just 10 minutes into it. "The roles are set," she says. She also says she thinks they are both left-handed.

Time: 9:16 p.m. EST McCain throws his first jab, hitting Obama over his earmarking. Obama doesn't respond. He returns to trying to say McCain is just a George Bush clone. Geez, get a new line man.

Time: 9:22 p.m. EST Obama is slow to react, he stutters too much, he sounds too rehearsed. He returns to Bush-bashing like it is a magic formula or something: "You are neglecting the struggles of ordinary people. That is a continuation of the last eight years." McCain sounds more natural, more at ease and yet somehow more passionate. Still, it's early in the debate.

Time: 9:26 p.m. EST Man, this debate is wonky. Obama calls McCain on health benefits. He wants to tax benefits, Obama says. McCain returns fire by saying he voted against the pork-stuffed energy bill, trying to tie him to oil and energy companies. Obama says, well, I tried to strip some of those things from the bill. That's lame.

Time: 9:31 p.m. EST Good question by Lehrer: what will the bailout bill force you to dump out of your campaign promises? Obama says he doesn't know, but concedes he won't be able to afford everything now, then rambles on and on for a while. McCain says spending cuts are a must now. He calls for eliminating ethanol subsidies, and cutting back on Pentagon spending. "We need to get cost overruns under control. I know how to do that." He even promises to put people in jail. Good responses, though nothing in his response indicates what on his wish list he would give up. The old fart is sharp tonight.

Time: 9:31 p.m. EST Obama says if I'm the most liberal senator it is only because I was opposing "the misguided policies of George W. Bush." Again, I'm glad we cleared that up. Obama then gives a shout out to his buddy and co-sponsor on bills, Tom Coburn, the most conservative senator.

Time: 9:34 p.m. EST "There is no doubt that as president, I am going to have to make some tough decisions," Obama says. I think you are getting ahead of yourself senator.

Time: 9:39 p.m. EST For the second time, McCain says it was well known that he was not Miss Congeniality in the Senate. He must like that line. Either that or he just wants people to know he looks ugly in a dress.

Time: 9:43 p.m. EST Obama says he took a risk opposing the Iraq war in 2002. Is that really the case? He was a state senator at the time, representing what I'm guessing was a pretty liberal district. I mean it's not like he opposed motherhood and apple pie.

Time: 9:47 p.m. EST Obama responds to a McCain jab on the surge by saying that he is very proud of his vice presidential pick, Joe Biden. No so swift, but he recovers by hitting McCain over his supporting the war in 2003. McCain hits back by saying that we are winning now and the troops want to win: "You don't understand the difference between tactics and strategy," McCain says and somehow gets the upper hand. Man, if Obama cannot beat him on this issue, he's in trouble.

Time: 9:52 p.m. EST Lehrer says, "Having resolved Iraq, we'll go to Afghanistan."

Time: 9:56 p.m. EST McCain hits Obama for supporting strikes in Pakistan (umm, doesn't Bush now support this?). McCain says it's wrong to say that out loud. If we have to do that then we do it, we just don't tell anyone. Obama amazingly lets this pass.

Time: 10:03 p.m. EST McCain hits back against the warmonger charge by saying he opposed sending Marines to Lebanon. He then rattles off a number of other similar international conflicts. He then invokes a weeping mother whose son died in Iraq and gave him a bracelet to remember her son. Obama replies, well I've got a bracelet too. "No U.S. soldier ever dies in vain because he is carrying out the orders of his commander-in-chief," Obama says. Umm, doesn't that step on his anti-war message?

Time: 10:08 p.m. EST McCain comes down hard against having a second Holocaust. Another thing I am glad we cleared up.

Time: 10:10 p.m. EST I am beginning to wonder if Obama is Kenyan for "Dukakis". Seriously, Obama's lack of passion, his Ivy League love of nuance in debate is killing him.

Time: 10:14 p.m. EST McCain goads Obama into reaffirming that he'd meet with leaders from Iran and other rogue regimes whenever he feels it'll help. He cites Kissinger, as if that'll win people over. McCain replies he won't set the meeting schedule before he is in the White House. "I don't even have a seal yet." Sharp shot. Obama is not just naive but dangerous, McCain says. He quotes Reagan's "trust but verify" line too.

Time: 10:19 p.m. EST And on to Russia! Clearly Obama made certain he knew how to pronounce "South Ossetia" correctly.

Time: 10:23 p.m. EST McCain one-ups Obama by saying he went to South Ossetia. He then pronounces the names of a series of Eastern European/Russian places, the kind of names that have 15 consonants to every vowel.

Time: 10:25 p.m. EST Has Obama showed passion or anger once tonight? Not that I saw. McCain, on the other hand, shows it again and again. In fact, he sounds like he is restraining himself.

Time: 10:29 p.m. EST Lehrer asks how likely are we to have another 9/11 attack? Oh, come on. Nobody knows the answer to that one.

Time: 10:33 p.m. EST Obama promises to restore American standing in the world. Well, he's got the all-important liberal expat vote behind him now. He then congratulates McCain for opposing torture. Dang, he really doesn't know how to play this game, does he?

Time: 10:36 p.m. EST I just noticed how Obama has a habit of referring to himself as "we". It's subtle but it kind of gives away his ego.

Time: 10:38 p.m. EST And McCain goes for the gut in his closing remarks. Hey, did you know he was a prisoner of war? And he loves our vets?

Time: 10:39 p.m. EST After the end is called, Obama tells McCain, "Good job."

Time: 10:42 p.m. EST In the postgame Gloria Borger says Obama won because he "held his own." Way to lower the bar, Gloria. David Gergen calls it a draw.

Time: 10:42 p.m. EST Watching the post-debate analysis, I must confess that I don't like Anderson Cooper much. That's mostly because my ex-girlfriend loved him. Hey, babe, I want my albums back, alright?

The Wrap-up: Well, if it wasn't clear enough from my posts above, I think McCain won decisively. Obama had no major screwups but he was on defense throughout the night and was otherwise slow, uncertain and lacking passion. He kept returning to trying to link McCain to Bush. It made him look too much like a hack. McCain seemed more confident, more knowlegeable and more at ease. He also hit Obama thoughout night without somehow looking too mean. The repeated line that Obama just doesn't understand seemed to get under the cool one's skin.

As I write this the experts at CNN say Obama won narrowly because he didn't lose. And so the conventional wisdom forms. Me? I'm getting another drink. See you later folks.

McCain To Pause Campaign, Then Hit Rewind Until He Gets Back To Leading in the Polls

What a weird election...McCain to suspend campaign to work on bailout package. Also wants debate moved until a later date. No word yet on whether he is OK with the November 4th election date. Fox News:

John McCain announced that he will suspend his presidential campaign on Thursday to return to Washington to help with Wall Street bailout negotiations. He urged his opponent Barack Obama to do the same.

The Arizona senator also asked the Presidential Debate Commission to postpone Friday’s scheduled debate with Obama so that he can work on the financial crisis bailout plan now on Capitol Hill.

“America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen,” McCain said in remarks to reporters from New York.

So we sit through more than two years of campaigning without a break and with just 6 weeks left until we decide what egomaniac we put in charge of this country they want to put a hold on the campaign? I don't think politics in a democracy work like that. I'm OK with them pretending to stop the "campaign" even has they ham it up for the cameras on Capitol Hill. It's a silly lie to try and convince us of, but they're politicians, they make up silly lies all the time. What annoys me is this talk of delaying the debate....Why? Because there is some "crisis" going on? There's always a crisis happening somewhere across the world, but our democracy shouldn't stop, or pause for them. It's more symbolic than anything, but that counts for something.

Looks Like It's Palin

We will know for sure in an hour or so, but it pretty much looks like Alaskan beauty Sarah Palin will be McCain's VP pick. It has its downsides, but on a whole it's a damn impressive pick by McCain, especially when you consider other names that were floating around....As someone who considers themselves a right-leaning libertarian, the pick is about has good as McCain could have done.

Civics Lesson from McCain: 'I'm not being elected dictator"

McCain in an interview with Politico says he will not make a one-term pledge, something that many conservative pundits had hoped for. He also pledges to work with Congress to make decisions for our country because in case you didn't know, we aren't electing a dictator in November. Apparently our country is like a republic. Or something like that.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — John McCain stated unequivocally in an interview with Politico on Wednesday that he would not pledge to serve only a single four-year term, rejecting a suggestion that some allies believe would allay questions about his age and underscore his nonpartisan message of putting country first.

“No,” McCain said flatly, “I’m not considering it.”

There has been speculation that McCain, 71, could couple a single-term promise with an untraditional running mate such as Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) to make the case that he would shove political interests aside and run a consensus-oriented government with the Democratic-held Congress.

On how he would be different from Bush:

“Let’s show the American people ... that there are opportunities for us to work together for the good of the country,” McCain said. “And I think that [the Democrats] would benefit as much or more as I would.”

McCain added: “I’m not being elected dictator — I’m being elected president. And you have to work with Congress. And they know the priorities as well as I do.”

As for those priorities, and specifically what the two parties could accomplish together in the first 100 days of a McCain presidency, he touched on spending cuts and entitlement reform before talking in more general terms.

McCain Just Now, "Learning to get Online" Also to "Make Toast" and "Program the VCR"

McCain doing his best to not sound like the out-of-touch Grandpa that we all know he is in an interview with the NYT. From Politico:

John McCain says in an interview published this weekend that he has begun learning the wonders of the World Wide Web, but does not yet e-mail or have a BlackBerry.[...]

“I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself,” McCain told Adam Nagourney and Michael Cooper of The New York Times.

“I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.”

McCain said websites his staff often shows him include The Drudge Report, Politico.com and Real Clear Politics.

"I will have that down fairly soon"? Fantastic. Great to know that he's almost figured out how to double-click on the Internet icon and then type in google.com. If he wasn't able to get that in like 3-5 weeks we might have cause to worry about his age, intelligence and over-all ability to lead the most powerful nation in the world. But because he will have that down "fairly soon" we all can relax.

Story here.

Hillary Wins By 10%, No End in Sight

Hillary stays strong with her base in PA, and Obama continues to hope that the little known voting bloc of white -- middle-aged and older -- middle-class voters will, at some point vote for him. It might happen come November; but ask yourself this -- who are old white people more likely to vote for in a presidential election with their two choices being: 1) a young black lawyer with an ivy league education, a smidgen of elitism, and a trio of Abercrombie and Fitch models in the foreground of his speeches, (see above right) or 2)the 100 year old white guy who has run for president before, and also happens to be a Vietnam veteran and former POW.

I know my answer, and it's not the black guy...Of course the question is - are those non college-educated whites the swing voters in '08? Probably. Forget the exit polling data, numbers can always be tricky, the key worry for Obama supporters should be his inability to win in big states, whether earlier in the race or now as the end nears against Clinton. This says the same thing that the exit polling does -- Obama isn't the trans-everything candidate that he was made out to be. He doesn't appeal to every voter demographic, not nearly. Without looking at specifics, that alone should give McCain and his team a serious confidence boost.

This Is What Wins Front-Runner Status In The GOP

How did John McCain spend Super Bowl Sunday? Speaking at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, of course:

FAIRFIELD - John McCain cast himself Sunday as heir to Ronald Reagan on domestic spending and a strict-constructionist on judicial nominations, messages intended to reassure conservatives less than 48 hours before the Super Tuesday primaries.
[...]

But he also focused on burnishing his credentials as a fiscal hawk, decrying what he called $35 billion in pork-barrel spending signed into law over the past two years by President Bush.

Who did McCain choose to have at his side while delivering his "fiscal hawk" message? Who else: CT Rep. Chris Shays and Sen. Joe Lieberman. As David Boaz notes, Lieberman is no conservative, fiscal or otherwise. Besides hawkishness and age, there's basically nothing Lieberman and McCain have in common. And Shays? Well, his wealthy CT district was a well-represented part of the 2008 additions to the DHS "Terror Risk" list. Each of the three CT cities added to the DHS list this year have some zip codes in Shays's district. And while it's true that the list is actually released by the executive branch, it's not farfetched to believe that Shays may have had some influence. He also serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Was he any more credible regarding judicial nominations? Hard to tell... he didn't really say much:

"I am proud to have been part of a team that got Justice Roberts and Justice Alito appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court," McCain said. "I will appoint judges that strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States of America and not legislate from the bench."

CNN correspondent Dana Bash recently commented on TV that the quote from McCain was "essentially code" to appeal to conservatives. She's right in that it was a pander to conservatives... "strict-constructionist" and "not legislate from the bench" are classic GOP pandering lines. But it's not at all "code." Code, by definition, is that in which "symbols are assigned definite meanings." But there is no definite meaning here. Normal politics, absolutely. Bullshit pandering, you bet. But for fuck's sake, how about some clarification:

* What do you mean by "strict-constructionist?" Is this just a way to say "pro-life only" without saying "pro-life only?" Or do you mean "strict-constitutionalist?"

* Name three examples of "legislating from the bench." Explain how those decisions contradict the constitution. Next, explain how the constitution allows the federal government to prohibit or regulate abortion.

To be fair, I never hear any serious candidate answer these questions, not just McCain. But the point is that this guy has no idea what he will do if he is elected president, except stay in Iraq indefinitely. While McCain may be a fiscal conservative in some ways, he's obviously not a principled fiscal conservative. In other words, I cannot be confident in McCain to take the right side of any fiscal issue that may become the new hot button issue over the course of a 4 year presidency. If he wins, he might as well just flip a coin to choose his position on each new issue.

Lieberman To Endorse McCain

McCain-Lieberman '08 ?

McCain Bounce

McCain makes a push up in the latest, national Gallup poll. Up 4%. I'd expect a bit more up this before the fall is over. I'm still standing by this statement from August.

McCain: Step Up the War on Drugs!

From a "campaign" stop (I use the term loosely in regards to Team McCain) in Iowa:

GLADBROOK, Iowa (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain says the U.S. should step up the war on drugs as part of efforts to secure the borders.

Campaigning in Iowa, McCain said Americans are to blame for "creating the demand" for illegal drugs. As a result, he says drug cartels "have taken over our border cities." McCain says the war on terror has diverted some attention from the battle against illegal drugs.

Full story here.

McCain Math

You start with 12 staffers. Then, cut the staff down to 4, because you can only steal so much change from your grand children's piggy banks to pay said staff. After a couple weeks and some serious "re-structuring" you are able to add 4 new staffers. Simple math tells you that you went down from a total of a dozen folks on the payroll to only 8. From the Wilimington Star:

At its peak this spring, McCain had a dozen on his full-time payroll here and a handful of paid consultants. Last week, he had four paid staffers and the consultants were all working for free.

With two hires this week and two more in the next week or so, the campaign will have eight full time staffers by the end of the month. And all the new hires will be doing the field work of directly courting voters, McCain spokesman B.J. Boling said

[...]

There have been more resources devoted to this state. We've been able to add staff in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina," Boling said. "I think that reflects our overall campaign strategy."

Welcome to the McCain campaign, where firing 8 people then hiring back 4 is called "adding staff." Full article here.

Disclosure: I still don't like John McCain. Really, not at all. However, I think McCain makes a a final push before he runs completely out of steam. I'm betting on a better than expected Iraq report in September and some minor shifting in public opinion, esp with beleaguered Republican voters who are looking for some good news. If that happens McCain is positioned well. So I'm saying Iraq will look better this fall than it did this past spring and McCain will make a push in the polls. How does that sound for going out on a limb?

My Friends, McCain isn't Going Anywhere......For Now

Sign #37 of a floundering campaign:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain dismissed the notion Thursday that he might drop out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination because he is lagging in fundraising and trailing in polls.

"That's ridiculous," the senator told reporters in the Capitol. "Why in the world would I want to do that?"

"It would be nuts," McCain said.

Stay in...I've had a blast watching him stumble his way out of contention. Keep up the good work Senator. Full article here.

The Man Who Would Have His Finger on The Button

Do you want this hot head to be Commander-in-Chief?

Via Roll Call (subscription required).

Several key Republican sources tell HOH that McCain in fact told Cornyn to “f--- off” during a last-minute meeting Thursday to wrap up details of the then soon-to-be-announced bipartisan immigration agreement. Apparently, Cornyn — the conservative stalwart who has been negotiating with fellow Senators for weeks on the deal — was making a final push for some of his provisions when McCain (who has been on the campaign trail for the past five weeks) jumped in to cut him off.

Just to get warmed up, our sources say McCain charged Cornyn with making a “chickens--t” argument to try to sink the delicate immigration package, and urged him to leave the room. (Notably, the room was the ceremonial presidential area off the Senate Chamber where some 40 people were huddling, including Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and a handful of other Democratic and Republican Senators.)

No wallflower himself, Cornyn struck back, charging McCain with “trying to parachute in” to the negotiations at the 11th hour to try to be a player in a deal of which he had little or no part. Then, according to several observers, things turned really ugly.

McCain turned to Cornyn and said: “F--- you. I know more about this issue than anyone here in the room.”

According to sources, the exchange was met with awkward silence.