Completely Unnecessary

1:32: The SBS guy is just offloading everything he remembers about the debate. McCain scribbled a lot. Alright, I’m out of here.

1:31: Michelle Obama is really rocking the florets lately. I hope that’s not coming back in. Is that back in?

1:30: GOOD JOB, GOOD JOB, GOOD JOB! Cut their mics!

1:30: Bob is the new Dan Rather with his folksy anecdotes.

1:29: Middle class for Obama in the closing - good.

1:28: Brighter days are still ahead. Isn’t that a Reagan quote? Kennedy?

1:28: Damn McCain he put the ‘if you can trust us’ - that’s a dog whistle for all his ads.

1:27: McCain: Please vote for me. I will keep your tax dollars safe. By spending nothing on anything, except hatchets.

1:26: McCain just did creepy laugh plus a SNORT! Bob is unfamiliar with websites.

1:24: ‘…precious children who have autism. Sarah Palin knows about them’. I think that’s my favorite quote of the debate.

1:23: McCain: Reauthorize NCLB - well there go the teachers that Obama pissed off earlier.

1:22: ‘You, I, Cindy, and… your wife…’ That’s Michelle.

1:21: ‘I don’t think America’s youth are interest groups’ - if McCain’s adviser really said that thing about the interest groups, that’s absurd.

1:19: McCain likes Teach for America? I’m kind of surprised by that.

1:16: McCain: ‘We’ve achieved equal access to schools?’ Oh, I see now that this is going to vouchers. Oh, it went to charter schools. And then to vouchers. Right.

1:15: No freaking way. Education. Thank you.

1:15: Oh, I didn’t know that ‘health of the mother’ meant killing babies. Who knew? When did McCain get so crazy pro-life? He sounded more extreme than Bush when it came up in his races. I guess he’s trying to keep what’s left of the Appalachia vote.

1:13: Here’s another 10 minutes of the debate gone on this issue. That’s 30 minutes total on nonsense.

1:12: ‘Extreme aspect of the pro-abortion [faction] of this country’ - Jesus, McCain.

1:10: ‘Proudly pro-life’, McCain? Not in 2000. Why is this now about abortion? And why is McCain bothering to shore up the pro-life vote? That’s what Palin is for.

1:10: The Ledbetter decision. Obama brings the rest of the women home to the Dems. That was a seriously bullshit decision.

1:08: ‘Rights shouldn’t be left to state referendum…popular vote’. Well put.

1:07: Why does Obama hate Breyer so much? Why? McCain: I impose no litmus test, but Roe v. Wade means they are a bad judge.

1:05: ROE V WADE. Screw you, Bob. Screw you. Education. Education. Our kids are stupid. Only 13% of voters vote on abortion.

1:04: Senator Government! If you chose to add ‘Joe’ to your drinking game. You now cannot get health insurance because of your pre-existing liver damage.

1:02: Holy shit. What are you talking about John? We’re all communists or something, and Joe knows. But is rich, so will not be part of the Revolution. Gold-plated Cadillac health care. I don’t think we’ll have that in Communist America.

1:01: I bet Joe doesn’t exist. Or if he does, that his last name is Sixpack.

(more…)

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Hi both. I was teaching during the debate today and have an appointment now, so I’m furiously trying to watch part of the debate before I go.

I cannot tell you how much this is killing me.

Update: 7pm - Sigh. I’m still watching. I’m not going to bother commenting much, though, since it seems like everyone - including The Weekly Standard - is calling it for Obama.

It is - as many have pointed out - kinda boring. McCain didn’t totally explode (though he did call Obama ‘that one’) and Obama didn’t smack someone in the audience (though there was a lot of smirking when Obama was talking). McCain needed something awesome to happen. It didn’t.

If you want to fact check the debate - the NYT has an article up. You can also check out FactCheck.org or Politifact who will have more detailed comments up tomorrow, presumably. CQ Politics also has some bests/worsts/mosts.

Ugg, I just watched McCain make a ‘joke’. His awkward laugh makes me so nervous every time. I pray that someone chuckles with him just for pity’s sake.

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David Brooks weighs in on Palin’s debating techniques, and - as another testament to my studious work avoidance - I read his column.

Palin did great(ish), etc. Until:

With a bemused smile and a never-ending flow of words, she laid out her place on the ticket — as the fearless neighbor for the heartland bemused by the idiocies of Washington. Her perpetual smile served as foil to Biden’s senatorial seriousness.

I always have to look up ‘bemused’. I’m convinced that it should mean ‘vaguely confused amusement’, and fully expect that one day it will magically appear in the dictionary as such. So I keep looking.

Luckily, double clicking on any word on nyt.com brings up a definition of that word. So that’s how I know that, according to Brooks’ publication, Palin was:

So lost in thought as to be unaware of one’s surroundings: absent, absent-minded, abstracted, distrait, faraway, inattentive, preoccupied. Idioms: a million miles away. See ability/inability, awareness/unawareness.

Man, I agree with everyone these days!

Brooks goes on to ask, “Where was this woman was during her interview with Katie Couric?” Yes, because the antidote to ’senatorial seriousness’ is definitely what need on the Republican ticket - again.

And, finally, I can’t believe you’re going to make me go there, but all right:

…Palin broke no new ground, though she toured the landscape of McCain policy positions with surprising fluency… She was surprisingly forceful on the subject of Iran (pronouncing Ahmadinejad better than her running mate)…

If we’re really using pronunciation as the barometer of foreign policy depth, then her ‘mispronunciation’ of General McKiernan as “McClellan” certainly doesn’t bode well.

I mean, I don’t think it matters, but clearly Brooks must be worried about our policy in Afghanistan under a McCain/Palin Administration.

Dude, she can call Ahmadinejad ‘Joe SixPack’ for all I care, so long as she demonstrates an actual understanding of the world and its issues.

But - despite her folksy charm and well-rehearsed answers (and excellent pronunciation of words not ending in ‘g’) - that understanding is something she clearly lacks.

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It’s affecting Wall Street.

What?

Well that was… interesting.

The one moment that really stood out - except for the Wall Street thing and the ‘our freedoms!’ - was Biden choking up talking about his son. It was the one moment of the debate that really seemed true and not prepared.

Speaking of prepared, you could really tell when Palin switched onto her talking points. Which was most of the time.

I loved her answer about whether or not John McCain supported what Obama and Biden want to do with home loans. She quickly said ‘no’ and then moved on to energy policy. I get the feeling she had no idea what McCain does or does not think about that plan.

She looked terrified at first, but held onto the third act of the debate pretty well. Joe Biden occasionally looked like he wanted to reach over and put his hands on her (and not in a sexy way), but - aside from one loud intake of breath and a ‘whaaa’ face during her answer about the surge strategy in Afghanistan - he kept it under control.

There’s an art to deflecting the question and answering what you wished you were asked, but Palin’s not very good at it. It’s supposed to be subtle, so that you don’t notice. Palin’s gear changes are not smooth - she more or less just blinked at the housing question and then launched into energy policy. I had my own ‘waaaa?’ face.

Gwen Ifill was maybe a little nervous about that whole book thing and accusations of bias on her part. She really didn’t follow up on a lot of questions or, for instance, make Sarah Palin actually answer what she was asked. I expected Ifill to be tougher. Oh well.

As for the closing arguments - erhm, what was that from Palin? She did such a good job of memorizing her talking points and then the close was… weird. I guess it’s because she really gave her close in the question before, but… oh look, whatever, Obama’s gonna win.

Oh yeah, I also really liked when she said, “John McCain’s the man we need to leave… lead.” I completely agree with the first part of that sentiment.

Vaguely Related

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Apparently John McCain has pulled out of Michigan - stopping both his TV and direct mail campaigns.

Michigan is still in the toss-up category on a lot of electoral sites, but I guess McCain’s internals show it a bit differently. 17 electoral votes is a lot concede with a month until the election. The morale inside the McCain camp must be terrible.

I’ve been playing with different scenarios that put Michigan in the red column, so it’s nice to know I don’t have to do that anymore.

No debate liveblog today - probably. (Dry your eyes). I’m out to the burbs for some pay tv action - no staid, informative SBS debate wrap up for me! No sir, I’m watching Wolf in all his glory. My debate day will have Beard!

To occupy yourself in the absence of my nonsense - try Palin Bingo.

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I’ve read a couple people over the last couple days talking about how Sarah Palin’s tragicomic interview with CBS’ Katie Couric last week might have been some sort of West Wing expectations-lowering stunt.

Having finally gotten around to watching the complete second half (foreign policy), it just can’t be the case. Sara has a couple of great YouTube videos of the interview/debacle. The one in which she discusses Israel (number two in LMS Brightside’s clips) is really the most frightening (and getting less play than the Russia nonsense).

While watching Palin stutter through her mishmash of talking points is grimace-inducing, reading the words is actually horrific. There’s no way that this was intentional; it is nonsensical:

PALIN: That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it’s got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

As noted by Fareed Zakaria, ‘This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head.’

The transcript reads like a slot machine - a question is asked and you get two oranges and a lemon.

Leo’s fumbling on the West Wing was a) fictional and b) behind the scenes and leaked. There is no way that the McCain campaign sent her out there to deliver that nearly unmitigated disaster.

Given her performance in the controlled environment of the interview and against Couric’s not terribly abrasive interviewing style, I don’t know that setting expectations too low is something the Democrats or Republicans can achieve.

Perhaps she’ll come flying out of the gate, but my anticipation for the veep debate is turning into creeping terror for Palin. I guess schadenfreude overdose is one way to change the tone of the campaign.

By the way, if you want to Interview Palin yourself, it’s not much different.

Oh, and boo to the LA Times Style Section.

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1:21: From 538: [Nate] The media who wants to cop out from picking a winner will probably just say “Obama wins first half, McCain wins second half”. But the first half is likely to matter more because (i) it was about the economy and (ii) this was a boring debate that will have a lot of people zoning out by the end.

I think that’s true- because there was so much hype that everyone would have tuned in just to see if McCain turned up. The 1st half was definitely the strongest part and Obama did better.

1:10 - My post-debate activity? Dancing to Los Campesinos! in my loungeroom.

12:37 - Aww, SBS even wrapped it up pretty quick. We get no spin room here. Boo. That’s it for me.

12:35 - Anyway, nothing horrible happened. But I think McCain didn’t do himself any favors. And now onto the Veep debate!

12:34 - Nothing really major. Obviously, I think Obama won. The Aussies are talking about how - despite the format - this didn’t resemble Question Time at all. Duh.

12:33: I love watching the debates on SBS. The recap is so posh.

12:32 - AND POW!!!!!! Snap! Way to end the debate, McCain! How did the foreign policy debate wind up ending on the topic of veterans. Oh yeah - McCain is in it! I’m cracking another beer for the POW reference.

12:31 - Kenya wrap up.

12:30 - The reason I’ve voting for Obama? We both just cracked up together on McCain’s comparison of his stubbornness to Bush’s.

12:29: Jim Lehrer just gave McCain the blankest look ever. He so wants this shit over, too.

12:27 - McCain said we’d given a ‘fragile sacrifice’ in Iraq. What does that mean?

12:26 - ‘Senator Obama doesn’t understand or doesn’t get it.’ Is there a way to sue to stealing talking points?

12:23: Everyone’s doing a great job, but we’ll never be safe from teh terrorists. Amen.

(more…)

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Surprise!

Not sure why, but my brain just woke me at 5:30 in the morning. Given the all-historicalyness of McCain’s stunt and the debate tonight, thought I’d check the news:

McCain Decides to Participate in Debate

Well, that about sums it up.

Nothing like the promise of an hour of free television for one’s opponent to get one’s meddling butt on a plane to Mississippi.

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Yikes! That didn’t go so well.

John McCain’s announcement that he would suspend his campaign (and try to cancel Friday’s debate) to focus on the economy met with sharp rebuke on Wednesday from the Obama campaign and the United States of America.

Arguing that he needed to work on the bailout plan, McCain earned an assist for one of Obama’s best slam dunks of the campaign:

It is my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess… It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.

But it didn’t have to be this way, McCain! This whole thing started early in the morning when Obama’s campaign wanted to work with McCain. Wonkette’s Jim Newell put it best:

The Obama campaign has released a preliminary response to McCain’s [debate] proposal, which shows that the two were planning on making a joint statement about the economy until McCain randomly told everyone he had canceled the debate.

If you were to ask me (and it’s implicit that you would since you’re wasting your own time to read this - seek help), I’d say this has more to do with trying to get Sarah Palin off the hook. Well, equal parts at least.

The McCain campaign is now suggesting that the first McCain/Obama debate be moved to Thursday in place of the VP debate. Then the veep debate would be postponed.

I’m think November 5th is probably the McCain camp’s best bet for that.

However, the whole thing backfired and now everyone (especially David Letterman) will revel in the destruction of McCain and his campaign. The end.

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And his remarks are pretty spot-on:

Some highlights:

I will tell you, it does not get much more fun than these debates. They are inspiring events. I mean, last night, I think we set a new record because it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people. It took us 45 minutes!

Noting that ‘Senator Clinton looked in her element’ when asked by the moderators to attack him, Obama said:

Look, I understand that because that’s the text book Washington game. That’s how our politics has been taught to be played. That’s the lesson that she learned when the Republicans were doing that same thing to her back in the 1990s. So I understand it and when you’re running for the presidency then you’ve got to expect it.

You know, doing research on Australian elections - as dumb as they are sometimes - really helps put the American political process into perspective. I saw a clip yesterday with the now-Deputy PM Julia Gillard congratulating ALP supporters for raising ‘tens of thousands of dollars’ during the election. I chuckled, and then felt a little dead inside.

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