The Last Debate

Blogging the debate live, one last time. I have to say, my standards for this debate are going to be higher after the last dull encounter. I don't really blame the candidates for being unable to say anything interesting in these contrived, over-hyped infomercials.

While I'm waiting, I wanted to ask if anyone else read E.J. Dionne's latest column? Not so much because of his main point, but because he made this statement: "Precisely because Obama is not a baby boomer, he carries none of that generation's scars. Most Americans (including most boomers) are weary of living in the past and reprising the 1960s every four years.

Um, excuse me E.J., but Obama was born in August of 1961, which is very much part of the baby boom. I believe it's generally listed as occurring from 1946 to 1964, with the highest number of births occurring at the tail end (1955 - 1964).

Anyway. On to the debate. I'll be adding to this as the evening progresses (if progress isn't too much to ask).

8:05 - McCain has another message for someone in the hospital. His eyes look watery (darn this HDTV).

8:10 - Joe the plumber. This sounds like inside baseball... we don't know the Joe story, so it doesn't make a lot of sense.

8:11 - Obama points out that most small businesses don't make enough profit to hit the point where Obama's tax increase would kick in. Very true.

8:12 - Oh, boy, class warfare. One of my least favorite terms.

8:14 - Yeah, let's cut all the taxes, that sounds like a plan. Let's make our kids pay for it all.

8:19 - Obama at least came close to answering the question. McCain spent half his time on a different topic and then got out the hatchet. He says he's going to cut defense spending (can't wait to see that). Oh, and the pork barrel. And that overhead projector.

8:20 - Just pointing out that earmarks are only half of 1 percent of the budget...

8:22 - Can I balance the budget? "Sure I can." Good line telling Obama if he wanted to run against Bush he should have run four years ago.

8:24 - Obama is just unflappable. McCain seems to be getting a bit worked up.

8:25 - "Whether it be" x 7

8:27 - The high road, good question, Bob. Thanks for asking it.

8:28 - McCain tries to say that if they had done town halls it all would have been different. Does that make any sense? And now he's bringing up what John Lewis said comparing McCain/Palin rallies to George Wallace's rallies. And now the public financing issue. He's definitely piling it on.

8:30 - Obama is not answering McCain's call for him to repudiate what Lewis said (after all, Lewis more or less repudiated it himself).

8:32 - Okay, now he is addressing it. He's calling the comparison inappropriate (which is what Lewis himself did).

8:35 - McCain is proud of the people who come to his rallies, but there are some fringe people.

8:37 - Obama keeps trying to bring it back to the issues instead of ad hominem stuff. McCain says he doesn't care about Ayers but we need the whole story on Obama's relationship -- does that make any sense? And now Acorn.

8:38 - Obama on Ayers: Pointing out who else was on the board with him and Ayers (lots of Republicans). And the Acorn story, which is obviously a Swift Boating if I've ever seen one.

8:40 - What about McCain's transition manager who represented Saddam Hussein after Desert Storm?

8:42 - The running mate question. Obama is calming the pace down here.

Definitely a better debate than the second one!

8:44 - McCain tells us that Sarah Palin is a role model. A bresh of freath air (teehee, good Spoonerism!).

8:45 - Obama damns with faint praise: "She's a capable politician." And points out that the hatchet wouldn't let Palin do anything for special needs children.

8:47 - McCain says Canadian oil is fine. Gee, thanks, eh!

8:50 - We can store the nuclear waste at one of McCain's houses. I think he just volunteered.

8:51 - How many years until energy independence from the Middle East or Venezuala? McCain says seven to eight years.

8:51 - Obama says 10 years. (I'll see your 10 and raise you three.)

8:57 - McCain claims the mantel of free trade and compares Obama to Herbert Hoover.

8:58 - Health care. Obama: "This is the issue that will break your heart over and over again." Followed by a coherent presentation of Obama's position.

9:00 - I'm always struck by McCain's call for community health care centers. Don't those already exist? They do here. Maybe I live in nirvana here.

9:02 - Obama on the penalty Joe would face if he doesn't provide health care to his employees: Zero. Pretty effective response. I wonder where the cutoff is for small businesses -- 50 employees? That's a typical number used in these types of things, like family leave. And 50% credit for small businesses that provide health insurance -- yeah, baby! I like that.

9:04 - Their health plans really are starkly different.

9:05 - This Joe thing is getting pretty old. Just how many employees does Joe have, anyway? He's a plumber, for God's sake.

9:08 - The Chamber of Commerce endorsement of Obama's health care plan. Always a nail in McCain's health care policy coffin.

9:09 - Roe v. Wade -- a well-phrased question. "Litmus test" -- another of my least favorite catch phrases. McCain tries to wiggle out of answering the question. Obama says he'll look for judges with intellect and a judicial record and dodges the question too.

9:14 - "Those of us who are proudly pro-life..." vs the "pro-abortion movement." Huh.

9:15 - Obama's response on McCain's two attacks is well put together, and again, he's just unflappable.

9:16 - Oh, the pro-lifers and John and Cindy will help those young women. Yadayadayada.

9:18 - Obama on education... Go, early childhood ed! Community service for a tuition credit. And parents.

9:20 - McCain is going to talk about vouchers, isn't he. Yep.

9:23 - Federal payments for education... like maybe unfunded mandates? Obama just said he doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois... I doubt that was single-handed.

9:25 - "The same opportunity you and I and Cindy and your wife have had." Guess McCain is for same-sex marriage after all.

9:26 - Everyone should remember what the Freakonomics guy found about school choice -- it's having a parent who cares enough to change your school that's the key factor, not the actual school the child goes to.

9:28 - McCain seems to think Sarah Palin has a child with autism -- he keeps repeating that as an example of something Palin has a personal interest in.

9:29 - McCain's closing statement. "My friends." "Whether it be."

9:31 - Obama's closing statement. Pretty cogent.

Well that's over. Good job!

David Brooks says Obama was unflappable. Guess I got that right.

NBC -- discussing who the two candidates seemed to be talking to: Obama to the center, McCain to the right/the base.

Clarence Page on PBS -- McCain did a better job as a debater than in the past.

Michael Beschloss on PBS thinks McCain really hurt himself on the "high road" question. Hmm. We'll see how that plays out.

CNN -- the focus groups with the remote controls said that after 3o minutes McCain's performance took a dive.

CBS -- the spin room is a crazy place. I can't even believe they set up this room where the spinners walk around with little signs. Geez. Now their instant poll -- 500 uncommitted voters -- 53% think Obama won, 22% McCain. 28% now committed to Obama, 14% to McCain.

I was just watching the Joe the Plumber video (Obama's encounter with Joe in Toledo). I have to watch it again when I can concentrate on it better... but on first glimpse, what Obama said to him seemed perfectly reasonable.

CNN's poll says just about the same as CBS's -- 58 to 31 for Obama. Obama's favorable rating is up to 66%... McCain's declined to 49%.

That's it for the night.