As I didn't go in looking for some type of knock out punch, I thought McCain did what he had to do, most especially drawing contrasts with his more conservative approach to government, versus Obama's typical Democrat mantra of tax and spend.
And I don't believe Obama helped himself to look presidential by constantly displaying a smirk when he was off camera. By no means did McCain win any election tonight. However, Obama didn't win one, either. I do believe McCain did what he had to do and Obama did not. It's still a race.
Was there anything upon which Obama didn't want to spend more money? We spend more on education than anyone else - Obamas' solution? Spend more. Unfortunately, McCain did miss many opportunities to make some excellent points. Obama squandered millions with the Annenberg challenge and did not impact education one bit. McCain is not good in these debates, that's clear.
But he wasn't bad, either. And with many voters holding on to reservations about Obama, if McCain can continue to frame this election in terms of liberal versus conservative thought, he at least has a chance to make it close and possibly even win.
Along with that if media begins to focus on Obama as a prospective President, I don't think it will help his numbers very much. He usually suffers when the focus is on him. Add in any potential last minute revelations about some of Obama's past associations and political leanings, and I'm not going to be pessimistic unless I see some immediate contrary movement in the polls.
Temp is a racist..nah..nah..nah! Is that all you got, boy? No matter the criticism of Obama, Michelle or Barack, it would be racist. Hell, if you don't vote for the guy, you're a racist, according to you morons on the Left.
Meanwhile, in news of national import, liberals have now tried to destroy democracy in Ohio, as 200,000 of their newly registered voters? are now in question. Election fraud on a massive scale.
And you libs claim to want ethical government. What a bunch of hypocrites. I'll enjoy watching you libs get it from the thugs you empowered. Payback is a bitch, especially when it will be by your own doing.
Posted by: templar knight | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 10:58 AM
"---
"a dirty, latte-sipping effete commie lawyer"
Such angry, hateful talk from a devout servant of JESUS. Better not take the haapu gaijin out in a thunderstorm, patriot!
---"
(a) I am not at all angry, nor did I speak out of "hate" (of course, under the One's Regime™, any talk that does radiate with ponies, sparkles, and rainbows and how wonderful the One's Great Leadership is will be considered racist and hateful, and grounds for immediate extermination by a squad of Democratic Party Daleks).
(b) Barack Obama is a dirty Chicago lawyer willing to do anything it takes to receive his coronation as President. Plus, he himself stated that he is such an effete, latte-sipping liberal. And he's a red commie on the down-low... although whenever he opens his yap, a little more detail on just how much of a Marxist he will be in office.
(c) "Hapu" if I am not mistaken, is a Hawai'ian term for a biracial person who is at least of 50% indigenous Hawai'ian stock. "Gaijin", the rougher form of "gaikokujin", means foreigner. My kids have dual-citizenship with the USA and Japan; therefore, as Japanese citizens, they aren't "gaijin".
(d) So there, neener-neener!
Posted by: seekeronos | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 10:59 AM
No, I'm not kidding. the gals I had coffee with this morning, both republicans and dems, all different colors, agreed with me. Essentially, Michelle has disappointed american women where Cindy and Sarah have not.
Posted by: mary | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Michelle Obama is marginalized?? How about nutty Laura Bush with that creepy jokeresque smile and 500 yard stare. That's marginalized.
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 10:59 AM
I apologize about the exponentially growing butt. After coffee this morning, well we had a huge discussion about how the butt is getting bigger and I guess I should have left the comment at coffee.
Posted by: mary | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Just what is it that Cindy McCain has done that shows the womens movement was a success? Was it having an affair with a married man? Inheriting her fathers wealth? Buying her husband into politics? She's practically Susan B. Anthony.
Posted by: Spartan112 | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Agent 112 laments: "Re watch the debate, when he[McCain] is looking into the camera, ostensibly speaking to the American people he is blinking up a storm and can't look straight into the camera."
Looking into the camera is NOT like looking into someone's eyes. A piece of glass is not a pair of eyes looking back. It is just a media manipulator's device.
Posted by: Fred Beloit | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:04 AM
chris, let me see. Will it be a switchblade, a tire iron, or perhaps a Saturday-night special that does you in? Oh, well, at least you won't hate yourself for growing old, as it's quite obvious you hate older people. At least you won't have that to atone for.
Posted by: templar knight | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Cindy empowered drug addicts everywhere by stealing pills from her own charity. What a woman!!
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Essentially to sum it up in one word, Cindy is real and Michelle, besides being wholly militant is manufactured.
Posted by: mary | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:05 AM
I don't remember a presidential candidate ever being so militant about abortion. The group I was watching with became concerned. the Obamabots became quiet. Then someone in the group said, "what's next? Is he going to try and convince us to euthanize our parents since they are useless eaters?". It was a very awkward moment, especially since one of the two independents said it.
Posted by: mary | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Agent 112 laments: "Re watch the debate, when he[McCain] is looking into the camera, ostensibly speaking to the American people he is blinking up a storm and can't look straight into the camera."
Looking into the camera is NOT like looking into someone's eyes. A piece of glass is not a pair of eyes looking back. It is just a media manipulator's device.
Fred, you're attributing that quote to the wrong person.
And Mary, just what part remains of Cindy McCain that is real?
Posted by: Spartan112 | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:08 AM
"And Mary, just what part remains of Cindy McCain that is real?"
Her heart, michelle doesn't have one.
Posted by: mary | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:10 AM
"--- Don't sell him short, shouldn't that be "how well you'd do after FIVE plane crashes..." ---"
Heh. You really do swallow the lies hook, line, and stinker. :)
There were three crashes, one aircraft fire aboard caused by another crewmember, the USS Forrestal, and one combat casualty (which resulted in his capture and imprisonment in Hanoi).
You see a failure, I see a miracle of God: most pilots seldom can fly again after ONE aircraft crash.
Posted by: seekeronos | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:10 AM
The only militant position last night on abortion was McCains...when did he become a doctor and get to decide that the "health" of the mother is irrelevant?
Posted by: Spartan112 | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Most pilots are seldom given the chance when they are neglegent...of course most pilots are descendant of two admirals.
Posted by: Spartan112 | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:13 AM
ABC interviews the plumber and he gives it to them
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6047458
Posted by: Lala | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:13 AM
So angry! Your silly little murder fantasies are pretty warped. Considering the environment that your kids grew up in it's a credit to them that they don't still wet their beds (They don't, do they?). Sheesh.
On a non-child services note, check out the funny picture
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mccain-scrapping-to-change-course-of-election-962975.html
That old coot cracks me up!!
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:14 AM
"Her heart, michelle doesn't have one."
That's a bold hate filled statement Mary... if heart means a willingness to lie for your husband I suppose that's correct.
Posted by: Spartan112 | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:14 AM
Pretty funny stuff here seeing the predictions for a McCain win.
Go on over to intrade.com.
13 wins you 87 on McCain. Pretty long odds on the guy you think is going to win.
87 wins you 13 on Obama.
Seriously folks. Delusional is no way to go through life. Get yourself some help. Everything will be fine.
Posted by: jharp | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:18 AM
"--- I don't remember a presidential candidate ever being so militant about abortion. ---"
Indeed, this is the guy who likes state-sponsored murder (infanticide) of babies and leaving them in trash cans to die.
He is also the same guy who is close friends with a domestic terrorist couple who believe that white children are "pigs" and should not be allowed to live.
He is also opposed to the partial-birth abortion ban, which forbids the vile and barbaric practice of nearly delivering a live birth only to crack the baby's skull open and vacuum out her brains, or sever the spinal cord.
He sat with his wife for twenty years in the congregation of wicked racists and radicals who seek the unlawful overthrow of government, and the extirpation of the positive influence which white culture - specifically, the heritage of Jews, Christians, Greeks, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Celts have had on America -- to be replaced by a deficient culture of slavery, despondency, and permanent victimhood.
That wicked church - that synagogue of Satan - and her whorish pastor who blasphemes the Name of God to curse this nation: it does not seek to promote all the blessings of Black culture - which when submitted to Christ is a thing of much beauty and edification and spirituality, but they do worship their father the Devil, who comes only to lie, to destroy -- a murderer from the beginning.
This man is an antichrist, a man with murderous intent, a vile fiend, and an arch-enemy of humankind and of this Republic... and yet the media swoons over this would be dictator who is but a fancy degree and a few weeks away from joining the ranks of his co-ethnics in Africa in turning our Republic into a third-world hell hole, not much better than Zimbabwe or the Congo.
He'll follow the example of his wicked cousin Raile Odinga in Kenya, and open the door wider for Shari'a law and other perverse doctrines to finally murder our Constitutional Republic.
Posted by: seekeronos | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Wicked? Antichrist? Satan? Shari'a Law??
You're a nutjob. If it's so bad, why not move to the land of the crashing Nikkei? Its not like you're tearing things up here in the ole US of A.
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:29 AM
You better run to the backwoods and lakes of Michigan, jharp. Those phantom voters in Indianapolis were created by someone, and that someone is ACORN thugs. I'd clear out of that place if I were you. You boys on the Left who live in blue cities are going to be taken for quite a ride.
Oh, and chris, what is really funny to me is that you have to link a left-wing rag out of Britain to make your stupid non-point. Try breathing through your nose, chris, your spittle is all over your computer screen.
Posted by: templar knight | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:31 AM
"---
Wicked? Antichrist? Satan? Shari'a Law??
You're a nutjob. If it's so bad, why not move to the land of the crashing Nikkei? Its not like you're tearing things up here in the ole US of A.
---"
The Nikkei will recover quite a bit before the Dow will. All this nasty deleveraging will help unhook the Japanese and to a lesser degree, the Chinese markets from the declining American Economy. And with your boy Obama and two full houses of Democrats ruining this nation... it won't take very long to reduce us to a socialist quagmire of economic ruination.
The Dow has plenty of downside to go, and some rather smart Japanese bloke (Takahiko Soejima, go ahead, google him up) thinks that it might might go as low as the 3000's before it starts to recover.
As for my rant about Obama - yes, he is a man of Satan. Anyone who promotes the mass murder of innocent children is a tool of the devil.
And that devil - some call him Lucifer - is quite real, and has you so completely fooled that you think he doesn't exist. But the reality is, he controls you, and you serve him as a mindless, befuddled slave.
But there is a Saviour who can break those chains of bondage keeping you in your foolishness - and His Name is Jesus.
Posted by: seekeronos | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:47 AM
McCain is NOT an eloquent, captivating debater.
But that does NOT mean he would not be a fine President.
We are watching a case of "The Tortoise and The Hare" in action!
Obama "the hare" is smirking all the way toward the finish line. McCain "the tortoise" barely hobbles around the final bend.
The hare, recognizing he has time to spare, stops to high five the crowds, kiss the babies, and applaud the cheerleaders cartwheeling down the centerfield.
The tortoise crawls past booing, hissing crowds.
The hare can barely contain his amusement, when suddenly someone from the crowd calls out to the hare. The hare freezes, and looking up, he becomes intrigued by his one lone heckler.
Consumed by the distraction - the hare strains to see who would dare call out to him in such a disrespectful way!
The hare fixates on this lone objector, lifting his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, so he can get a better look at him!
At that moment, the crowd suddenly explodes into a wild symphonic frenzy of disbelief.
A sudden hush falls across the crowd.
The hare turns to see what everyone is pointing to...
In that very instant, the hare watches as the tortoise's tail disappears OVER THE FINISH LINE!!!!
SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE.
Posted by: Rambo | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:47 AM
What has Cindy McCain ever done?
Humanitarian aid
Cindy's humanitarian work focuses mainly on children and health care in developing countries.
Friends say her causes are an extension of her work as a special-needs teacher at Agua Fria High School. In 2000, Cindy's assistant contacted the offices of Operation Smile in Norfolk, Va. Cindy wanted to go on one of the organization's medical missions to a developing country to treat children with cleft lips and cleft palates.
The organization's officials were thrilled. They knew about Cindy's history of helping children in developing countries. They also knew that in 1993, she and her husband had adopted a child with a cleft palate from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh.
Having someone of Cindy's stature on a mission could elevate Operation Smile's profile, bringing in more donations.
But privately, Operation Smile officials worried that the senator's wife might expect VIP treatment, making the trip more difficult.
They were surprised not only at how resilient Cindy turned out to be but that she prefers the more difficult journeys.
The first trip
On her first trip in March 2001, Cindy volunteered to greet children arriving at a hospital on the dusty outskirts of Tangier, Morocco. Wray remembers the children looking like "something out of Lawrence of Arabia" riding on camels. She also remembers how Cindy, a ball cap on her head, stood in the baking sun for hours, handing numbers to children so they could be screened.
Wray tried to relieve Cindy four or five times, but Cindy kept saying, "I'm fine. I'm fine."
"I could not get her out," Wray said. "She was very low maintenance."
Kathy Magee, the co-founder of Operation Smile, said Cindy's toughness isn't all that impressed her.
Last June, Cindy participated in an Operation Smile mission to Boa Loc, Vietnam, her second trip to Vietnam on an Operation Smile mission. The first was to DaNang in 2002.
Magee was struck by the special connection Cindy seemed to have with the people of Vietnam, where her husband was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years after his plane was shot down over Hanoi during the war.
"They feel a need to give back in that country," Magee said.
Posted by: Lala | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Hahaha! That picture is just starting to make the rounds. Can that old man look any more sad and feeble??? Do you think he lurches around his 8 houses like that?
Oh no, there's video!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aANfUMpRuM
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:50 AM
What else does Cindy McCain do?
McCain traveled to Kosovo to discuss the removal of landmines with President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, as well as the head of HALO Trust, a mine-clearing charity. A member of the charity’s board, McCain has traveled to Sri Lanka, Mozambique and Angola to campaign for mine-clearing and has helped clear mines in Cambodia.
cindy_art_257_20080326160752.jpg
Cindy McCain meets with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu in Kosovo’s capital Pristina. (Associated Press)
This was McCain’s first visit to Kosovo, where HALO has led efforts to clear the territory of explosive ordnance left behind following the 1998-1999 war and NATO’s air intervention.
Clearing land mines isn’t her only cause. McCain is also on the board of Operation Smile and CARE USA, and founded and ran the American Voluntary Medical Team from 1988 to 1995.
Posted by: Lala | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:58 AM
"..mindless, befuddled slave.."
I do not believe I have ever seen the liberal morons who post on Dan's blog described any better, seek. Wow, you gutted the befuddled jerks. And you didn't even need my Gerber knife to do it. Way to go, seek!
Posted by: templar knight | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Psst, you have to be pretty insecure/conflicted to talk about weapons so much. And, because I'm nice, I won't ask so you don't have to tell. Ok?
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:02 PM
"You better run to the backwoods and lakes of Michigan, jharp."
Yeah, I might just do that. The confederate flag wavers here are getting pretty testy.
"You boys on the Left who live in blue cities are going to be taken for quite a ride."
Maybe so. Yet Obama has a decent chance to win Indiana. Hard to believe George Bush could have mucked things up that bad.
Posted by: jharp | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:13 PM
"During the third presidential debate on the night of October 15, 2008, the topic of Obama’s opposition to the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act, a bill to protect infants surviving attempted abortions, was broached.
The following issued forth from the mouth of Senator Obama, and establishes that he is not competent to regulate health care:
'And the Illinois Medical Society, the organization of doctors in Illinois, voted against it. Their Hippocratic Oath would have required them to provide care, and there was already a law in the books.'
Obama obviously does not know the Hippocratic Oath. Below is a relevant excerpt which should have prevented him from referencing this ancient health care regulation:
'I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.'"
And Obie said "...the Illinois Medical Society, the organization of doctors in Illinois, voted against it." They "voted" against it. What does this mean?
Obama seemed very confused during the debate...or did he just pull a Biden and make up stuff?
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/5597
And the old switcheroo:
http://constitutionallyright.com/2008/08/18/obama-campaign-admits-he-misrepresented-born-alive-act/
Posted by: Fred Beloit | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:27 PM
"---
Can that old man look any more sad and feeble??? Do you think he lurches around his 8 houses like that?
Oh no, there's video!!
---"
Aside from the editing done to make it look worse than it really was...
I watched him do it real time as the camera pulled away and the talking heads began their commentary.
I didn't see a feeble old man, I saw a man very comfortable in his own skin, making light of himself in an otherwise perfectly ordinary situation any normal person might have found themselves in.
I'd have to say that McCain is much closer to being an everyday sort of man, who isn't full of himself - and certainly as not as much as Obama seems to be, telling us that he wants to take our money and "spread the wealth" he didn't earn.
Posted by: seekeronos | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Way to go seeker, templar, lala, rambo, mary, fred!
I see the libs are gnawing at their leather straps again.
Posted by: Philip McDaniel | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:37 PM
"Obama has a decent chance to win Indiana."
Yeah, and Ohio and No. Carolina, too. It's hard for me to believe that you hypocrites who have called for open, ethical government are sitting back watching the thugs commit voter fraud on a massive scale in dozens of states. I hear Indianapolis now has more registerd voters than they do voters. I guess the laws of math no longer apply to ACORN and its allies on the Left. And I doubt it was the Confederate flag wavers who have been registering all those phantom voters, jharp.
And my Gerber is hardly a deadly weapon, chris, but the screwdriver, scissors and can opener do come in handy. And that three-inch knife blade is good for cleaning fingernails and scaling fish, I guess.
Posted by: templar knight | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Take a look at a Mark II, Templar...That's an instrument to gut with...but only on big fish if you get my drift.
Posted by: Philip McDaniel | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Temp it's generally not fraud until those folks actually attempt to vote and that's not what is taking place. Somehow you have no problem with voter suppression though I am sure.
As for your Gerber...well at least you have decent taste in multi-tools, can't say much about your taste in anything else (the scissors on those things are like tits on a bull though).
Posted by: Spartan112 | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:49 PM
I've had a leatherman for years. Is the gerber better?
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 12:57 PM
The blades on Gerber's tend to be better (they are a knife company after all). I have the Legend and the thing I like about it is it has replaceable wire cutters and spring loaded pliers (verra nice).
Posted by: Spartan112 | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:04 PM
Actually, I have a Leatherman, too, but the Gerber holds an edge better than my Leatherman, so I'm guessing the steel is superior. I'm not sure whether superior steel is inherent in the Gerber, or whether my Leatherman was a victim of a one-time error in the mix. Does your Leatherman hold an edge well?
Posted by: templar knight | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:04 PM
"It's hard for me to believe that you hypocrites who have called for open, ethical government are sitting back watching the thugs commit voter fraud on a massive scale in dozens of states."
There is no voter fraud. There are some fraudulent registrations which are being addressed. ACORN called these to attention themselves.
"I hear Indianapolis now has more registerd voters than they do voters."
Hadn't heard that. Link?
"And I doubt it was the Confederate flag wavers who have been registering all those phantom voters, jharp."
The confederate flag wavers had there own little voter suppression tactic. It is now state law in Indiana that you must show a government issued ID.
Posted by: jharp | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:04 PM
I have a Gerber but have always thought of the SOG as the best.
Posted by: jharp | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:06 PM
Flooding election districts with fraudulent registration ballots is fraud. It forces the district to hire more workers to examine the ballots. It costs money to send out the cards for address verifications. I'm sure that there are many more costs involve, which come out of taxpayer funds. There is also the danger that the boards can't get to all of them and will have to make some voters fill out provisional ballots. Ohio is now faced with verifying 200,000 registrations. Who is going to pay for it? Also, there are the court costs involved.
Posted by: Lala | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:07 PM
Yeah, it stays very sharp. It gets a bit creaky though. I suppose a bit of oil wouldn't hurt. I have to say, that thing has served me well for 10 or so years. I use it for everything.
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:10 PM
"It is now state law in Indiana that you must show a government-issued ID."
What's wrong with that?
Posted by: templar knight | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:11 PM
"I use it for everything."
OK, chris, I have newfound respect for you. Anyone who uses a Leatherman can't be all bad. LOL.
Posted by: templar knight | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:13 PM
Very disturbing
Justice Dept. Targets GOP Activists
Partisan lawyers are running criminal investigations against conservatives who point out that noncitizens shouldn't vote.
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/justice-dept-targets-gop-activists-warning-of-illegal-voting/2/
October 16, 2008 - by Anonymous
Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers
It is important to realize what has happened here. Not only was CCIR engaging in political speech fully protected by the First Amendment, but it was telling voters the absolute truth about federal statutes that prohibit noncitizens from registering and voting in federal elections and the possible consequences, including deportation. Yet the Civil Rights Division initiated an investigation of perfectly legal behavior, in fact First Amendment-protected political speech that could not even remotely be considered a violation of any federal voting rights law the Division is charged with enforcing.
Posted by: Lala | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:15 PM
"It is now state law in Indiana that you must show a government-issued ID."
What's wrong with that?
Many voters don't have one. And it's a big problem to get one.
Posted by: jharp | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:19 PM
Hey, those SOG's look pretty scary (in a good way). I can pretend that I'm a badass while tightening my daughter's tricycle seat!
Posted by: chris | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:21 PM
About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow bride of Christ because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.
Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow sisters at Saint Mary's Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.
The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn't get one but came to the precinct anyway.
"One came down this morning, and she was 98, and she said, 'I don't want to go do that,'" Sister McGuire said. Some showed up with outdated passports. None of them drives.
Posted by: jharp | Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 01:23 PM