Tag: 2008 (page 3)

Did McCain catch up? I found him incredibly unappealing. He seems like a very small man, in all respects.

He played to his radical right base. He knows that getting out their vote is the only way he can win, since he has lost with independents and all other women outside the base.

I'd bet even Joe the Plumber is voting for Obama.

Update: The CNN focus group of undecided voters in Ohio say Obama won and three decided to vote for him tonight. Ayers didn't resonate with the group.

The third and final debate between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain begins at 9pm ET on CNN. Big Tent Democrat, TChris, the TL Kid and I will be live-blogging.

The live blog stays below the fold so that it can be a bit wider than the front page allows. Just click on the "There's More" button or bookmark the permalink to go directly to it.

You can comment same as always in the comment section below. You also can send us live messages through the software. Only comments you post below will appear on the site.

We'll add live polls so you can weigh in on how they are doing. [More...]

The final debate between Sen. Barack Obama and John McCain begins in less than two hours.

What will McCain do? Will he stay on issues or make a last minute sleaze attack on Obama?

How will Obama respond? How should he respond?

We'll all be here to live-blog the debate -- Big Tent Democrat, TChris, the TL Kid and me -- hope you will join us.

In the meantime, here's a place for your last minute debate thoughts.

Stocks fell again today as recession fear set in.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 700 points, giving back nearly all its record gain from Monday.

The Dow closed down 7.9 percent, or 733 points, at 8,578. That follows a loss of 77 points yesterday, which nearly wipes out Monday's 936-point gain. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was off 9 percent, with a 90-point decline, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 8.5 percent, losing 151 points.

More...

Newspaper editorials from the Heartland are beginning to roll in: Shorter version from this one in the Toledo Blade:: Walk and don't look back.

Sen. John McCain, by nature, has shown himself to be incapable of providing the American people with an optimistic vision of the future. Firmly rooted in the failed politics and policies of the past, he cannot guide us on a path he does not see.

More...

Post Debate Polls are coming in:

• CNN: Obama 54, McCain 30.

• CBS: Obama won among undecideds, 40% to 26%.

  Forty percent of the 516 uncommitted voters surveyed identified Barack Obama as tonight's winner; 26 percent said John McCain won, while 35 percent saw the debate as a draw. (As you might have noticed, these percentages add up to 101 percent; the reason for the additional percentage point is rounding of each of the individual totals.)

  After the debate, 68 percent of uncommitted voters said that they think Obama will make the right decisions on the economy, compared to 55 percent who said that before the debate. Fewer thought McCain would do so – 48 percent after the debate, and 41 percent before.

You know Obama won when even the right-wing blog Powerline says so.

Update: The full debate transcript is here.

In addition to the "That One" video, here's:

• "Health Care Should Be A Right"

• Extended health care answer

• Obama on Speaking Softly and Pakistan

• Final answer: "Opportunity" and "Modest means"

More...

Thankfully, it's over. It was a terrible debate format, Tom Brokaw disappointed, McCain was incoherent, snivelling and condescending. Obama appeared Presidential.

You Tube above is of McCain calling Obama "That One."

What did you think?

My great friend (and TalkLeft contributor) Anita Thompson, who like me, used to be a fierce Hillary supporter, has written John McCain a Dear John letter on her Owl Farm Blog.

Dear John McCain,

This is a sincere Thank You note for being the man to put my heart, soul, time and money back into politics.

My beloved late husband, Hunter S. Thompson, gave me the political bug years ago. And to honor his spirit, I was asked to blog for several exciting websites during the Denver Convention. I accepted, but because I was a Hillary supporter, I was going through the motions with thinly veiled apathy and losing steam fast.

My story is not uncommon. I was one of the millions who were hoping for that Clinton/(Obama) ticket. With that failure, it got worse as the months went by. I got depressed, and even sick, my self-esteem tanked, and interest in either party was slipping away.

Then whamo! With your VP pick, the Obama/Biden ticket is not just the better of the two parties, it is a bright and shining star next to the arrogant and stupid Sarah Palin you put in our faces. [More...]

The new Wall St. Journal/NBC poll has Barack Obama and Joe Biden ahead of McCain/Palin by 49% to 43%.

This is a pretty astonishing drop for McCain:

Sen. McCain's support in rural areas and small towns, where he led by 21 points after his convention, has steadily dropped and he now has just a three-point edge.

As for Palin:

Half of all voters still say she is not qualified to be president if the need were to arise; just 41% say she is.

By contrast, Sen. Biden saw his numbers shoot up, with three out of four voters saying he is qualified to take over if need be -- up 10 percentage points from two weeks ago. Even 62% percent of McCain voters think he's qualified for the top job.

More...

Just another reason not to vote for McCain/Palin:

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.....Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.

The cuts are how the McCain campaign claims its proposal is budget neutral and wouldn't cost taxpayers more money: [More...]

My last Sarah Palin post for the night: Her gaffe in San Francisco today, calling Afghanistan "our neigboring country."

Three days after a mostly gaffe-free debate performance, the Alaska governor fumbled during a speech in which she praised U.S. soldiers for “fighting terrorism and protecting us and our democratic values”.

“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.

In other election news, a new poll by the Denver Post finds McCain and Obama in a dead heat. I don't think Colorado will matter -- it's going to be about turnout in the big states like Florida, Ohio, PA and MI and Obama's massive voter registration drive seems to be working.

I've got very early court in the morning so let's make this an open thread.