So, What'd Ya Think?

I thought McCain edged Obama out just a bit and Obama had real difficulty answering questions in a straight forward manner. But I've already seen some reactions that are somewhat reversed.

Bottom-line I think we are looking at basically a push, which is less than what McCain wanted going in. I wouldn't be surprised if the polls started to tighten some as they usually do at this point in a Presidential campaign.

But if McCain wants to win this thing he needs more than he's currently got. Here's how I see things shaping up.

Obama is trying to cruise under the radar until the end, which is smart. He knows he doesn't need, or even want to make too much news right now. Frankly, when the focus is on him he runs into trouble.

If McCain's people can keep the headlines about Obama for the next few weeks he has a chance of pulling this out. If the headlines are about anything else, Obama probably wins.

Comments

[whitehall]

What a waste of time. It boiled down to "Blah Blah Blah" vs. "Blah Blah Blah."

The real difference between the candidates, as presented, could have been condensed to a couple of minutes. They generally tried to not say much of anything although I think McCain gave us more meat.

[BobinStamford]

"That one" cleaned the McSame's clock. Anyone see the old bugger shuffle out of the stage right afterward? What a sore loser. Emphasis on loser. Wonder if he has a house in Nashville?

The fundamentals of the economy are STRONG!!

[mary]

Some people on the blogs that were live blogging said that Obama seemed "Rovian" and rminded them of GWB.

Some noticed that Obama is doing to McCain what he did to Hillary. Stealing all her good ideas and making them his own. He put forth an idea tonight which John McCain put forth in the last debate.

Some people are starting to think that Obama is a closet war hawk and this is making them uncomfortable. Since when do the dems try to scare the people?

Obama's goons seem to be able to negotiate better terms for him, these were easy dumb, hit it out of the ball park questions. Interstingly enough, a lot of posters were embarrassed for Brokaw. "Of six million questions, those were the best ones?" is a comment that was heard a lot
tonight.

As I post this I can't believe that I just heard David Gergen on CNN play the race card?

[redherkey]

You're dead on: it's a push. McCain was marginally ahead until the health care discussion, which then became a discussion of who screwed up more. McCain was pathetic, but Obama's rebuttal was simply lost. Subsequent issues were muddy and neither candidate showed any substantial competency. My wife asked if we could reject the top of both tickets and vote on the VPs at that point.

Unfortunately, we face a strong cultural dynamic. The little secret about subprime that isn't getting talked about is that we have a post-boomer culture of grasshoppers who believe there is a robust population of ants to coast upon. Living in a rural southwest Iowa county, I can't tell you how often I hear at our grocery store how many "rich CEOs" will be taxed by Obama to pay for free healthcare for everyone. As someone who knows the math, I know it just isn't true, but the perception is against us.

Obama presents an easy path during hard times. Vote for me and I give you more with no sacrifice. We'll just go steal it from your rich neighbor (*wink wink*).

That this great nation is at this point is reprehensible. I can assure you as someone who only recently got his head above water, Obama and his supporters aren't taking squat without me taking a whole lot of them down with me.

[BobinStamford]

"I can assure you as someone who only recently got his head above water, Obama and his supporters aren't taking squat without me taking a whole lot of them down with me."

Note to self - stay out of nowhere Iowa or risk being TAKEN DOWN by psychotic above-water patriots.

[jharp]

"I wouldn't be surprised if the polls started to tighten some"

100% disagree. Sure seems most felt Obama won.

And a serious question for both sides.

Any zingers?

Myself. I thought McCain's walk quietly and carry a big stick followed by the bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran retort was pretty significant.

But I am biased.

[WileECoyote]

No matter who wins they are going to inherit a big triple decker shit sandwich that both parties, the Congress and the blood suckers on Wall Street have left us. If Obama wins and has control of Congress, which he will, he will not be able to do the Ali bob and weave or rope a dope for long. The turd will be on his plate. And he will choke on it and so will our country. What a wad of bullshit Obama spews. Only a moron would believe he can do 1/6 of what he promises.

[scrapiron]

Clearly the One don't know sh** without a teleprompter filled with words some white guy in the backroom wrote for him. Almost 4 years in the Senate and worked a total of 143 days while requesting over $900 million in pork and accepting hundreds of thouasnds of dollars from Fannie and Freddie for services (votes) rendered. When did he ever take care of the people's business, that is people other than his criminal/terrorists friends in Chicago. He might want to consider a move to Iran, most of his close friends are in prison or awaiting their turn.

I'll wait for the list of lies Hussein told. Wonder if he'll break Slow Joe's record of around 25 confirmed lies.

"Osama and Obama have one thing in common. They both have friends they supported for years who bombed the pentagon".

[Worst President Ever]

At best, McCain got a tie, which ain't good enough when you're losing. Calling Obama "That One" is a potential defining moment that he may not be able to overcome in the next four weeks.

Overall, Obama came off as more knowledgeable, quicker on his feet, tougher on terrorists, but most importantly, better on the economy.

Stick a fork in him - McLame is done.

[mary]

Why that is what america is calling him "that one".

[jaime]

Why that is what america is calling him "that one".

No. Republican's tried to mock him as "The One" The confused old geezer turned what was to be a snide remark into something completely disrespectful and unpresidential. The son of an admiral should know to always respect your opponent.

[neelynzus]

Either McCain is unmanageable or he's got morons for advisors. He has no rebuttal. My God! How many times does he have to hear that deregulation crap before he refutes it? And Pakistan? Pakistan has 180 million people and a guy named Khan who probably knows how to make suitcase nukes and Barack the Baby President is going to poke her in the eye?

Maybe it's just timing. Maybe Mac's waiting for the last debate. Right?

I can't believe one of these dunces is going to be POTUS.

[mary]

jaime, you really have no clue.

Keep spouting the talking points and make sure to drink the kool ade.

You just disrespected a man who was a POW and is a US Senator. McCain in most people's book has earned the right to say anything he wants.

The problem with you obamanoids is that you are all so blind you cannot see and somewhere you didn't learn about respect and fairness. Your "anything to win" "any means to an end" mentality is just plain wrong for America.

[Spartan112]

"McCain in most people's book has earned the right to say anything he wants."

That's actually part of McCain's problem. HE thinks he can say anything and as president that can get you into trouble.

McCain lost the debate because he didn't win...in other words, there is no tie for him...a tie is a loss.

Something else, who looked presidential? Not McCain. He looked broken and defeated. Obama was calm, cool and collected.

[hdtv]

The polls certainly are not going to tighten because of this debate. If things follow the trend, Obama will move ahead by a bigger margin.

McCain needed a huge Obama gaffe. I mean huge. It wasn't there.

It's over. They said nothing that hasn't been said before and Obama is in the lead. There is no game changer here. There is no game changer in the media or in advertisement. People are shifting focus at individual levels and have tuned out both candidates.

[joeb]

Obama rreminds meof Bill Clinton. Tell any lie to get elected. Then watch the country get mired in scandals and leave the door open to terrorists.
By the way has anyone noticed that terrorists attacks are down all around the globe? Yes there have been a few but not as many as in years past.
Someone must be doing a good job. Hey Boob remember support our troops. George Bush and Dick Cheny get up every morning asking themselves how many terrorists can I get killed today. Obama will wake up every morning thinking along with Nancy how high can we raise taxes and how much govt. money can we spend. Wall Street will get happy again and the ripoffs will get back in action. Happy Days Are Here Again. Everybody wants you money and the Democrats intend to get it. Only suckers leave their money in any kind of account that is not FDIC insured.

[chris]

Wow, how feeble and angry did the old man look last night. He walks like a geezer, talks like a geezer and thinks that he's somehow entitled to act 'special' like a geezer. Bye bye, geezer!!!

[mary]

I keep thinking about all the debates. I remember when they were discussing NAFTA and somehow someone from the campaign called Canada to say "not to worry, this is politics, we have to say this" or something on that order. Wonder if the quiet is because the world wants "their candidate" to win?

[Rambo]

What do I think?

I think there is a lot about of information about Barack Hussein Obama that Obama does not want Americans to know.

To name a few:
1. Occidental College records -- Not released
2. Columbia College records -- Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper -- 'not available'
4. Harvard College records -- Not released
5.. Selective Service Registration -- Not released
6. Medical records -- Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule -- 'not available'
8. Law practice client list -- Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate -- Not released
10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth -- Not released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published -- None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles -- None

13. Record of baptism-- Not released or 'not available'

14. Illinois State Senate records--'not available'

That's what I think!

[Karen]

I loved the "That one" line.

I think it's a sad state of affairs when all that is expected of Obama is that he SHOW UP for a debate and do nothing or say nothing of importance. Who wouldn't wln with those skewed odds?

That aside, I think McCain was stronger and more knowledgeable. He appeared comfortable among the people unlike the other one.

[mary]

I have seen more than once on the comments on malkin's blog that "McCain is somehow being paid to take a dive". I mean really. And it wasn't just some nut who managed to get through. They are saying this often and I'm wondering if they actually believe it.

Rambo, you can add his wedding picture. Why no wedding picture. Is he in some special garb that might give him away somehow and not the standard tux.

[LeftyLouie]

Kare,

"the other one" what an obvious racial slur against a clean articulate black man...for shame!!!

[mary]

OMG, they've turned it into a racial slur? Oh Geez McCain doesn't have a racist bone in his body.

[hdtv]

I think "that one" was a small gaffe. It's a phrase I've heard my 90+ year old grandmother and grandfather use. I've never heard my parents use it. To me, it spoke to McCain's age. I can only think that people younger than I, or ones never exposed to its usage, must have struggled with connotations. Was it racism? Impoliteness in not properly addressing another person?

[chris]

Mary,

Here are some Obama wedding photos for you.

http://images.google.com/images?q=obama%20wedding%20photo&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Btw, you are too dumb to have an internet connection.

That is all.

[seekeronos]

"--- Stick a fork in him - McLame is done. ---"

From my comfy chair, it looks like Obama marginally did better than McCain for this debate. Not a stinker, but not a big winner by any significant margin.

I like how he particularly charmed the audience with his health care plan, giving us all the rosey-talk but saying nothing about the thorns lurking behind it all: sure, we are going to put the 40-millionish uninsured on the same programme that the senators have?

And who is paying that bill... and can I really trust the Obama administration (I've been taking time to get used to the inevitability of "President Obama") to keep his "promise" that it won't affect my ability to choose which health care practitioners I want with my plan?

Can I trust any Obama "promise" (or anything that any Democrat has to say) or will these promises be as empty as Obama's "empty suit"?

My take on it all:

McCain is a stalking horse, he is deliberately tossing the race to Obama. Some sort of backroom deal has been cut (after all, the Mav *IS* the Master of reaching across the Aisle) which will allow 'Pubbies in the Senate to have some degree of leverage - so he hopes - in a solid Democrat majority (I think it will split 58-42 or somewhere *really* close to the magic bulletproof 60).

It really doesn't matter at this point: both parties are two heads of the same dying beast - and unless the one half of that beast dies back enough to allow reform (I speak of the GOP, which is infested with a poisonous mix of miscreants, self-obsessed traitors, perverts, and neo-conservatives who would bargain away both our liberties and our financial integrity for their dreams of global primacy), this nation will be swirling around the drain in less time than it takes President-select Obama to complete his ill-fated term of office.

Because he *WILL* have not just one "crap sandwich", but a whole platter full of 'em dumped onto his desk on 20 January 2009.

For all his smooth talk, I really am not convinced that Obama has the experience or the ability to truly "fix" or lead anything. He will be nothing more than a puppet for those who paid for him, or to put it most uncharitably, he will be "George Soros's Kept Help" in the White House.

Aye, let the charges of racism fly: and if the shoe fits, wear it.

In all seriousness, I think we are witnessing the end of this Constitutional Republic - the devolution of that great experiment in representative republican governance degraded and withered away to a pale imitation of some banana republic, one that will make the patronage-based "governments" of Latin America laugh at us in derision as they look instead to the true (for a time) rising powers of the Western Hemisphere: Brazil, followed by Argentina and Venezuela.

We must keep perspective; the Liberals are ever ready to proudly declare that they live in the "reality based community" as opposed to those of us who believe in the True Creator God, whose Name is Jesus, the Blessed Redeemer.

Believers, remember that Jesus *IS* the Creator, and it is He who upholds this universe, even in its present fallen condition. It is that coming day when He returns to take back full dominion over this world, to evict the Adversary from his limited rulership over this world, and to restore it to perfection.

No matter what happens in the next few years or decades, our faith in Him is given to us as a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9) and we must be diligent to remember His promise: that our salvation in Him is forever, and that being God, He is not man who lies, nor a son of man that He should repent of His love and His grace toward us...

The promises in God's word are ETERNAL, they will not fail, and in Him, we shall rejoice both now in our sufferings according to the flesh, knowing that we shall soon (whether measured in years or decades - an eye-blink in the timelessness of eternity) be with Him, rejoicing in His victory.

Despair not then, at this fraudulent parody of an election, nor at the wickedness of so-called media, nor at the lies of politicians and the moneychangers in the temple on Wall Street.

Let us who name the Name of the Lord Jesus beseech through Him our Heavenly Father, that He may guide and hold whosoever He permits to be our President through the vote of the electorate - and that we may be able to bear up through the chastening and discipline of the Almighty, as He scourges His children (Hebrews 12:5)

"----- For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? -----"
(1 Peter 4:17, KJV)

Ye do well to remember the Judge of the quick and the dead, the Lord, the giver of life: for Mighty is He, and terrible and righteous are His wrathful judgments executed against this unrepentant, rebellious, disobedient nation.

Christians, I say unto ye, repent, and refrain from further offences and using the Lord's precious name in vain through your bad testimony. (James 4:4,6-8)

And if ye be obedient, then pray that the backsliders and those who walk in carnality be returned to obedience and desire fellowship with the Saviour; and that the unsaved may yet call upon His Name unto salvation. (Romans 10:17)

For the harvest (of souls) is truly plenteous, but labourers are few. (Matthew 9:37)

[mary]

It is so starting to reach me. The minutia I mean. The picking everything out "with that scalpel" that he spoke about. The harping the "getting in your face" if you disagree with them. Last night on a financial blog where the commentator was live blogging and we were commenting as we went along I guess I made enough timely comments for them to want me to stop. Well, before I knew it I was roundly attacked by two other posters. Not an ordinary attack, it was vicious. I thought to myself wow if you are not the fighting type you just might give up. And, can you imagine what it is like in person? I've had two "arguments" with people who I care about who are totally drinking the kool aid. What bothers me is the fact that they get the Obama e mails and only read those. The argument concerned listening to the other side. They do not believe they have to do this. These people are totally mesmerized and it is starting to frighten those of us who can see what is going on.

The posters who worry about an "army for Obama" may not be as far off the mark as we would have thought.

[mary]

Mary,

"Here are some Obama wedding photos for you.

http://images.google.com/images?q=obama%20wedding%20photo&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Btw, you are too dumb to have an internet connection.

That is all.

Posted by: chris | Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at 10:56 AM"

Just so you know chris, I'm not sure who I am voting for. Posting the wedding pictures was all that was necessary. The editorial comment was not. I've forwarded your posting to people in the Obama campaign in their personal e mail. Everyone knows I am truly not sure so attacking me, I can assure you, is the wrong strategy.

[chris]

You may not be sure, but I am.

[mary]

I would venture to guess chris that I have given more money to Barack's campaign against Hillary than you have earned in your lifetime. Have a nice day, son.

[chris]

In my lifetime! That's great to hear! The only problem is that you sound a little, well, crazy. I doubt that you are employable.

[Fred Beloit]

Our candidates are the pride of the nation, aren't they? The unaccomplished versus the tempestuous.
Boob, you are a surly, bitter, and foul-mouthed moron. Ditto chris, of course.
Worst, you are a malicious jackass.
Jame Gumm, you are a criminally insane geek.
Islamo, you are a spiteful and hopeless know-nothing.
Mr Ever, you are a slanderous sock puppet and a prattling jackanapes.
LOL, you are a hate-filled racist.
hdtv, your brain is as blank as a cable TV with the cable cut.
Agent 112, you are a low-level Dem hack working for peanuts as a propagandist, er, teacher.
Harpo, you simply suck.
Thank you all for representing the left-wing in America so accurately.

Oh, yes, let's consider docweasel for some appropriate category. After all he is a bash-conservative Repub who wanted McCain. I'm gonna vote for him, doc, but I'm afraid he won't do you proud. He'll probably advance the candidacy of Sandy "Pants" Berger for the Supreme Court.

If I have forgotten any worthies from this list and you are offended, I apologize or applaud, depending.

[seekeronos]

"--- I keep thinking about all the debates. I remember when they were discussing NAFTA and somehow someone from the campaign called Canada to say "not to worry, this is politics, we have to say this" or something on that order. Wonder if the quiet is because the world wants "their candidate" to win? ---"

I believe that this is all really part of a broader plan (I might say "conspiracy", but it this point in history, it is practically an open secret) by globalists like the CFR, Club of Rome, the Bilderberg group, and certain old money families (Rockefellers and Rothschilds among many others) and certain "newer money" folks like George Soros and most of the Hollywood entertainment complex to bring a two-layered form of socialism to the USA, and by extension, the rest of the world.

Not that the rest of the world isn't already well on a socialist path; the USA has been a very hard nut to crack for socialism due mostly to our Constitution, our long-treasured value of individualism and Liberty, and our abundance of privately owned firearms (2nd amendment).

But things are changing - the 2nd amendment is more or less still intact (for now: just wait until "Chief Justice H.R. Clinton" is sworn in, and see how fast that changes) but it is short-circuited by an even greater superabundance of high-powered weapons and hardware owned by the government.

Take away posse commitatus (for example, the expansion of "NorthCom" for the domestic deployment of armed forces in a civilian law enforcement/riot suppression capacity), and add in the sort of gun-sweeping done in the wake of Katrina... I mean, a 30.06 is a wonderful hunting rifle, and an AR-15 is okay for its purpose, and a Mossberg 590 will ably knock down any home intruders, but that's all child's play against a well-trained, well-eqipped urban ops or a SPECFOR unit determined to drag you and yours out of your home and pack you off into a different internment camps for whatever capricious reasons.

It is all about control, Mary... and the people - the average uniformed, workaday person whose main concern is getting their next paycheck and feeding their belly, and maybe catching the next thrilling episode of "Dancing with the Stars" ... they simply do not care.

One evil clucking head is as suitable as the other -- and since they are practically useless figureheads in office anyway, it really doesn't matter to most people.

What we *should* be interested in, and looking for, are the folks "behind the scenes" who are orchestrating thing. But people who ask too many uncomfortable questions (or the right questions) have a way of either being silenced (the bulk of the news media) or marginalized (folks like Alex Jones, the JBS, most paleo-conservatives) or being disappeared altogether (Vince Foster, among others).

And the media, along with ultra-leftists like ACORN, made flush with MoveOn.org and other soft money... have recruited their Obama-zombies to do their heavy work of intimidating those who would question the Great Leader's intentions ... which again, amount to nothing, since he, like most presidents over the past 50 years, are there to distract you from the real power brokers.

[Worst President Ever]

Hey Seek, paranoia will destroy ya.

Obama's winning because he's a better candidate with better answers, not because McCain's intentionally tanking the election. I thought McCain was a never say die POW? Now he's some puppet ready to throw the election on a whim.

He's a lousy candidate that's run an even worse campaign. Watching McCain's train-wreck of a campaing, why would anyone think he has the skills to pull the country of the mess his good buddy George got us in?

[Fred Beloit]

Has anybody else noticed the new Obama campaign gimmick at Obie's arrival at an airport? The news camera is always on the right side, as one faces the side of the plane, and shoots parallel to the port side of the plane. Obie comes down the steps. In the background stand two or three ground crew members. Obie, who is a lover and protector of the bitter, gun-totting and religiously-fanatical working man, goes over to them and shakes their hands. (Guess the campaign couldn't find a female worker, so far anyway.)

Questions: (1) Are these workers on a coffee break or lunch hour? Workers are supposed to be working aren't they? (2) I have disembarked from quite a few planes in my day, never saw ground crew standing there watching us descend. Why not? (3) You may say, yes, but they want to see Obie. That is probably true, but who arranges this scene, obviously with the consent of ground crew management. Also, I suppose they would like to gaze upon the ugly (for a leading man) puss of Matt Damon too. Do they get to do that as well? Where does it end?

Here is my guess. This has been an agreed-upon arrangement for propaganda purposes between the Obie campaign, the media, and the ground crew's union.

[seekeronos]

"--- Hey Seek, paranoia will destroy ya.

Obama's winning because he's a better candidate with better answers, not because McCain's intentionally tanking the election. I thought McCain was a never say die POW? Now he's some puppet ready to throw the election on a whim. ---"

McCain is a very smart guy, and well able to deal with this youngster from Illinios.

McCain's utter lack of passion in the latter half of this campaign or willingness to dig his horns into Obama's thorny past is a revolting display of acquiescence.

I am actually amazed at the way McCain is tossing away the election -- not that it was ever his to win, but he had a number of good chances to put some serious polling margins between him and the Zero.

However, I do not agree that Obama is a "better candidate with better answers". He has mediocre, watered down answers inflected and intended to lull the Undecideds/Moderates/independents to sleep, deceiving them into thinking he is a harmless moderate thinker who will ease us into the next golden age.

Most people don't care to dig too deeply either.

When we wake up on 20 January 2009 to a raft of socialist, economically draining, liberty-destroying policies to be swiftly herded through a bulletproof Democratic Congress, I think that those moderates and independents may very well rue their poorly-informed choice.

[Worst President Ever]

"McCain is a very smart guy, and well able to deal with this youngster from Illinios."

Evidence would suggest otherwise. Maybe you could call Hillary and see what she thinks about that "youngster".

If McCain doesn't change the momentum of the election, Obama isn't just going to win, he's going to win in a landslide. Obama's leading or tied in a number of states McCain positively, absolutely has to have to win - Ohio, Virgina, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina.

Maybe working class folks are tired of the Socialism for the Rich the Republicans have forced on us.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Hillary thinks Obama cheated.

http://www.observer.com/2008/clinton-volunteer-thinks-obama-cheated

It's no surprise that Obama cleaned up in the caucus states, where you can pack rooms with your supporters, but was left with only the black racist bloc in states where you actually have to register and prove that you live somewhere in order for you to vote there.

But that's why Obama and his paid voter-fraud organization ACORN are doing their best to try to flood the zone and come up with ways for people to vote three, four, however many times they need.

And Obama is illegally paying these organizations that are getting nailed on voter fraud in multiple states.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_584284.html

And Obama is lying on his own campaign website when he claims to have never been associated with or worked for ACORN.

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-ran-acorns-training-sessions-on-power

And Obama is personally responsible for lawsuits, at ACORN's behest, forcing banks to make mortgage loans to people that are hideous credit risks. Obama himself supported that, as did his campaign finance chair, Penny Pritzker, whose bank trafficked in subprime mortgage and whose collapse left thousands of people without their savings.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09292008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/os_dangerous_pals_131216.htm?page=0

[seekeronos]

"--- Maybe working class folks are tired of the Socialism for the Rich the Republicans have forced on us. ---"

Socialism is ALWAYS bad, no matter who "benefits" from it.

My wealth (or your wealth) is not fair game to be redistributed to folks who refused to work to earn it: whether that be a corporation playing rip-off games, or a government trying to socially engineer its own de of utopia.