This is not liveblogging, got it? I don’t live-blog.
Having said that, it’s 1813PDT, and I think McCain’s doing alright here. Shaky start, but he landed some blows on this Joe the Plumber thing.
Nobody’s nailing The Enlightened One on this “cut taxes for 95%” thing. He uses it as a catch-all, which is a sign of being backed into a corner.
McCain proposes a spending freeze (1817). I wonder how that’s playing in Peoria.
Schieffer wants to know what he’ll do line-item by line-item. The correct answer is that the President doesn’t get to decide this. Our two candidates are debating what kind of plan they would signal Congress would be warmly received at the White House. Which is a powerful influence, but it’s not appropriate for Presidential candidates to define their plans to that detail, because they don’t control it that way.
Obama wants to lose the war (1820) in order to balance the budget. He’s using different words, but that’s his plan.
McCain retorts with what’s obviously a pre-canned talking point. He delivered it okay, though. Hope it does some damage.
I like how Sarah Palin’s running mate is doing tonight. He’s on the attack, but he doesn’t look desperate. You can’t really ask for more than that, all things considered…
Obama supports clean coal technology. I hope he cleared that with his running mate.
Save (1822). This is NOT liveblogging.
We’re getting into negative campaigning as a campaign issue (1824). You SUCK, Schieffer. How’s that for negative campaigning. This is not a legitimate issue. It isn’t worth talking about. Period. If we want to elect the best guy, the candidates should be able to tell us how they’re better than the other guy…PERIOD. And yeah, that includes William Ayers’ buddy up there.
Oh, that’s clever. McCain is going after the money angle. Yeah Obama spent more money on negative campaigning because he’s had several times more cash to spend on campaigning period. But it’s truthy.
Obama says a hundred percent of McCain’s ads have been negative. Let’s keep an eye out for those “fact checkers” to go to work on this.
Did Obama just say that campaign ads (1828) should be about policy? Did he really say that? So…he says “McCain’s policies are 90% the same as Bush’s policies” that’s what he’s got in mind? I’m sorry — who the hell is falling for this??
Save (1829). This is NOT live-blogging.
Uh…I think McCain just lost the Dallas Cowboy Fan Vote.
I’ve made this point before. People in the crowd who shout things when Gov. Palin speaks…they are somehow connected in some substantial way, a way not definitively named, to John McCain. Every little left-wing sympathizer who makes jokes about Sarah Palin’s vaginer, however, is acting indepdently and nobody else is responsible for the content. On the left-wing side of the fence, nothing is connected to anything else — so there’s more complaining about what’s said in McCain/Palin’s defense, even though the Obama/Biden supporters say nastier things, and say them much more often.
This is such a moose-feces issue. Can we please move on? (1833)
Saving…this is NOT liveblogging.
Ah…he landed a blow on the tee shirts. Obama protests that he has no control (or something, it was kind of a half-sentence). The proper thing for Palin’s running mate to say, would have been a reiteration of what I just said — how come I’m fastened to anything and everything, and my opponent isn’t responsible for anything??
(Even better) Are we ready for that lack of accountability in the Oval Office?
It didn’t happen. We’re still hashing over this phony issue. Yawn (1835).
Obama’s obsequiously chuckling and shaking his head at the mention of ACORN, a signal that he’s going to stick with his talking point that he has nothin’ to do with ’em nowadays. Note to self, this is another place to check for how the “fact checkers” handle this. Obama’s tossing out a bunch of stuff with regard to this, which is all fodder for the fact-checking “process” we have in place (1838).
Obama just said democrats and Republicans have shaped his ideas. Huh. I wonder what Republicans those would be.
What’s really called for here, is a challenge for Sen. Obama to lend his support to a call going out to ACORN, to clean up their shenanigans. That’s only reasonable.
Obama says Joe Biden has great “foreign policy credentials.” I wonder if he read this.
Fox is asking people to text their votes about “Who Won The Debate?” to a number, A for McCain, B for Obama. We’re only forty-one minutes in. Who’s texting?? I can’t think anybody can be more decided on this than I am, but I wouldn’t dream of texting something now…isn’t it traditional for a fight to be over before it’s “won”?
Saving again. But don’t call it live-blogging, because that’s not what I’m doing (1843).
Obama’s been slick and polished throughout this first hour. He starts talking about Gov. Palin, and it’s like his teleprompter burned out. Uh, er, uh, er…sounds like Ted Kennedy when he’s sober. Wonder what that means.
Just finished dinner (1928). Hey — they were talking about education when I left, they’re talking about education now that I’m back. **burp** Anyway, I’m not live-blogging so it’s okay.
Obama…policies of the last eight years. “Failed policies.” Should’ve made a drinking game outta this. For a guy looking forward into the future and change we can believe in, he sure spends a lot of time looking back over the last eight years.
Hey, I just noticed something. He said if we give him his vote, he’ll work tirelessly on “your behalf.” Now, I’m not votin’ for him, and I don’t make more than 250k a year…but what if both of those were the case? I don’t think jacking up my taxes so that he can “spread the wealth” he took away from me, is working on my behalf. That would come under the heading of “common good” or some such rot, wouldn’t it? Isn’t that a lie right there?
Joe the Plumber got fifteen mentions from McCain and another five from Obama. Ha! Yay, Joe. Draft Joe. I like Joe. Hey, there’s his last name on the screen…crickey…I think I could memorize Mr. Spock’s last name quicker. W-u-r-z-e-l-b-a-c-h-e-r. Huh. Palin/Wurzelbacher/2012. It does have a certain ring to it.