Debatable

'It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.'
--The White Queen, Through The Looking Glass


Pity poor Jim Lehrer. He had been promised a debate and the McCain camp kept that up in the air until this morning. He'd been promised a particular format--candidates fighting each other with him watching-- and they kept throwing their punches through Jim.

First off, in case you didn't see it or your DVR was "on the McCain"--I mean "on the fritz"-- Mississippi Presidential Debate transcript and video in that cool interactive feature on the New York Times.
Nielsen estimates 57 million viewers took in the event.

In case you're interested, Obama's campaign liveblogged factchecks throughout the debate, but more fun is Think Progress' liveblog of the debate, which includes a few fabulous "Let's go to the videotape" YouTube links. McCain's camp reportedly did send out email "factchecks" throughout the night, though I didn't receive any. Hmmm, I wonder if they know that I'm secretly a liberal...

Yeah, alright. You got me--I'm in the tank for Obama. But if you want my personal take, 36+ hours later my impression of the debate is of a nice calm, cool guy debating an angry, old grouch. If I actually worked for McCain [shudder], I'd tell him to lay off the aggressive tactics and try to look more like a kindly, wise grandpa. Throughout the debate, his stand-offish body language and stiff posture all suggest defensiveness to me. But as I don't work for him, don't tell him. Frivolous video for today: McCain's song and dance.

The upshot from Politico (with additions from Arianna Huffington and moi):

Number of times Sen. McCain referred to Sen. Obama as "Barack": zero
Number of times Sen. Obama referred to Sen. McCain as "John": 23

McCain zingers: "Sen. Obama has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate. It's hard to reach across the aisle from that far to the left. … I'm not going to set the White House visitors schedule before I'm president of the United States. I don't even have a seal yet."
Arianna adds: "For McCain, it was his line about Putin ("I looked into his eyes and saw three letters: KGB), and his mocking line about sitting down with Ahmadinejad."

Obama zingers: "Coming from you, who, you know, in the past has threatened extinction for North Korea and, you know, sung songs about bombing Iran, I don't know, you know, how credible that is. … I've got a bracelet, too, from Sergeant — from the mother of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek, given to me in Green Bay. … John mentioned me being wildly liberal — mostly that's just me opposing George Bush's policies." "John, you like to pretend the war began in 2007."
Arianna: "For Obama, it was his run on Iraq, his "muddle through" riff ("you don't muddle through Osama... you don't muddle through the Taliban"), and his reminder of McCain's gaffe about not meeting with the prime minister of Spain."

Best Obama sound bite: "You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. You were wrong. You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators. You were wrong. You said that there was no history of violence between Shiite and Sunni. And you were wrong."

Best McCain sound bite: "We've seen this stubbornness before in this administration — [for Obama] to cling to a belief that somehow the surge has not succeeded, and failing to acknowledge that he was wrong about the surge is — shows to me that we … need more flexibility in a president of the United States than that."

Arianna adds: Did John McCain really try to reclaim the high ground on torture after having caved on the issue earlier in the year? And did he really profess his love for veterans after having fought against the new GI Bill?
ME adds: Did Mr. "I Don't-Need-Any-On-The-Job-Training" McCain actually call Pakistan's president Kadari? Um, his name is Zardari. And I guess he should have practiced saying Ahmadinejad more. Even Sarah Palin managed it better. (A waggish commentator notes that McCain could just practice by saying "I may need a job.")

Declared Obama the winner (ME's editorial details in parentheses): ABC's George Stephanopoulos, pollster Frank Luntz on Fox, Slate's John Dickerson, Time magazine's Mark Halperin (Obama A-, McCain B-), pollster and Clinton adviser Dick Morris, CBS News instant poll (40% Obama - 22% McCain - 38% tie) and CNN post-debate poll (51% Obama-38% McCain). Also, Independents in the MediaCurves focus group "gave the debate to Obama 61-39. They also think he won every individual segment." More poll results.
Arianna gives style points to Obama, "who came across as relaxed and gracious (too gracious; enough with the repeated claims that "John is right"). McCain looked like he forgot to take his Metamucil."

Declared McCain the winner: Politico's Roger Simon: "The Mac is back", Fortune magazine's Nina Easton, The Weekly Standard's William Kristol and Fred Barnes, Fox News Texting Poll and Drudge online poll.

Tie: Republican strategist Mike Murphy, who said on MSNBC: "No game-changer, and we're going to have a rematch."

Huffpo rounds up some more post-debate commentary from editorial boards. And an observation from ThinkProgress: "ABC's Charlie Gibson and PBS's David Brooks and Mark Shields note that McCain never looked at Obama during the debate."

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Palinista Update

By the way, we saw an awful lot of Joe Biden after the debate, commenting on how Barack Obama did. Where was Governor Palin weighing in with her commentary on her running mate's performance ? Oh yeah, they can't let her out without a teleprompter. The National Review's blog "The Stump" quotes Wolf Blitzer on CNN: "We've been getting some emails from viewers out there wondering why we spent some time interviewing Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee and not Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee. We would have loved to interview--we'd still love to interview Sarah Palin. Unfortunately we asked, we didn't get that interview...We're hoping that Sarah Palin will join us at some point down the road."

Maybe she was working on a "do-over" of her interview with Katie Couric. Tina Fey strikes again with another pitch perfect "Sarah Palin" in an interview with Katie Couric. The wacky thing is that she's not really parodying Sarah Palin, she's just quoting her. "Like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this. We're saying, 'Hey, why bail out Fanny and Freddie and not me?' But ultimately what the bailout does is, help those that are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy to help...uh...it's gotta be all about job creation, too. Also, too, shoring up our economy and putting Fannie and Freddy back on the right track and so healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reigning in spending...'cause Barack Obama, y'know...has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans, also, having a dollar value meal at restaurants. That's gonna help. But one in five jobs being created today under the umbrella of job creation. That, you know...Also."

Even the National Review's Kathleen Parker, once "in the tank" (What the heck does that mean anyhow??) for Sarah Palin, now says, "As we've seen and heard more from John McCain's running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn't know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion."

Oh, and in case you're not outraged enough about Palin's utter insensitivity as a human being, note that while Palin was mayor in Wasilla, the town began charging rape victims for the costs of their own rape kits. Classy, real classy.

1-800-CASH4JUNK

Well, looks like we're buying it, folks. Details are in the NY TImes article, but I somehow keep missing this piece of info: which companies exactly are we buying junk from? Just anybody who applies?

To the right, a humorous juxtaposition of articles that I noticed this morning on Politico.

The New York Times has an interesting assessment of the real reasons why AIG (too big to fail) got a government bailout deal when Lehman (Let the market decide) got the "Go Fish!": "As the group, led by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., pondered the collapse of one of America's oldest investment banks, Lehman Brothers, a more dangerous threat emerged: American International Group, the world's largest insurer, was teetering. A.I.G. needed billions of dollars to right itself and had suddenly begged for help.The only Wall Street chief executive participating in the meeting was Lloyd C. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Paulson's former firm. Mr. Blankfein had particular reason for concern. Although it was not widely known, Goldman, a Wall Street stalwart that had seemed immune to its rivals' woes, was A.I.G.'s largest trading partner, according to six people close to the insurer who requested anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. A collapse of the insurer threatened to leave a hole of as much as $20 billion in Goldman's side, several of these people said."

He Came, He Saw, He Screwed it Up

"The Republican source, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said that GOPers and McCain were 'scared about the press perception' that they were at fault for 'blowing the thing up.' The takeover of Washington Mutual on Thursday combined with the continued downturn in the futures and credit markets "also scared them," to the point that a bailout deal seemed within the realm of possibility 'over the weekend.'"

And although you might expect that (with the "right" bailout plan being so all-fire important and all) that after the debate was done, John McCain would race to Nancy Pelosi's office to be there in person, all night, at the negotiating table in Washington. After the debate, he was on the Hill Saturday for about 90 minutes according to the Washington Post (who also deliciously describes "chaos" in the McCain camp during pre-debate preparations): "McCain did not go to Capitol Hill, preferring to make calls from his headquarters. 'He can effectively do what he needs to do by phone,' [McCain adviser Mark] Salter said. 'He's calling members on both sides, talking to people in the administration, helping out as he can.'" Oh. He can do it "by phone," can he? You don't say.

Maybe after dinner? Politico reports that Saturday night, McCain was at the very chic DC restaurant CityZen. Check out their $110 tasting menu. I guess, since his "services are no longer required after he um, achieved bipartisanship last Thursday, he can settle into a nice "Sweet Onion Chiboust with a Sarawak Pepper Sable and English Thyme Broth...." (Maybe I should check it out if I can ever afford fine-dining again...) Hey, John, "arugula-eating" is cheaper.

So what do people think about McNuts' Mc-neuvering last week? Even conservatives are saying: Whuh-HUH? "It just proves his campaign is governed by tactics and not ideology," said Republican consultant Craig Shirley, who advised McCain earlier in this cycle.

Hmmm...Instant poll: is it better to govern with:
a) Tactics
b) ideology
c) NONE OF THE ABOVE
US News and World Report's John Farrell assesses Obama's handling of the "Political Circus comes to town" as Presidential, whereas..."Given the Republican nominee's untethered (there's that word again) performance in the last three weeks, during which he has swung wildly from Oblivious to Panicky by way of Blurt and Bluster, McCain's performance comes as no surprise."

The Post is no more sympathetic: "John McCain's sudden intervention in Washington's deliberations over the Wall Street bailout could not have been more out of sync with what was actually happening...McCain's boisterous intervention -- and particularly his grandstanding on the debate -- was less a presidential act than the tactical ploy of a man worried that his chances of becoming president might be slipping away."

Of course, there's always the nutcase. Steve Huntley says in the Chicago Sun-Times: "What we are talking about here is leadership in a time of crisis...Be it campaign finance regulation, immigration reform or climate change, he has never hesitated to take a leadership position on an issue he sees as critical to the country..." Hmmm, who is Huntley? I seem to remember that name... Oh yeah, he was Robert Novak's editor, the one who let Novak publish the column that leaked Valerie Plame's identity. Oh. Him.

And what is with McCain's constant lies? Is it self-delusion? Jonathan Chait at the New Republic has some interesting perspectives: "McCain has contempt for anybody who stands between him and the presidency. McCain views himself as the ultimate patriot. He loves his country so much that he cannot let it fall into the hands of an unworthy rival. (They all turn out to be unworthy.) Viewed in this way, doing whatever it takes to win is not an act of selfishness but an act of patriotism."

From the NY Times this morning, hints of NEW! FRESH! headaches for the McCain campaign: "Mr. McCain portrays himself as a Washington maverick unswayed by special interests, referring recently to lobbyists as "birds of prey." Yet in his current campaign, more than 40 fund-raisers and top advisers have lobbied or worked for an array of gambling interests — including tribal and Las Vegas casinos, lottery companies and online poker purveyors." The Times also has a graphic with a dizzying array of McCain connections to the gambling lobby.

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Stupid Human Tricks

And in a good old classic run on the bank, WaMu customers went in this morning to demand their $10 back. Following the largest US bank failure in history. JP Morgan Chase acquired WaMu after the bank was seized Thursday night, and all operations continued as normal on Friday morning, even though depositors pulled $17 billion from the bank. (I don't know why those instant stock quotes embedded in text of the above article bother me so much. Makes me a little panicky frankly.)

Thanks to Betty for tracking the Dealbook blog's moment-to-moment coverage: Do you have money in Wachovia-- which may be "Citi-chovia Traveling Group" by the time I get done typing this sentence? A scorecard in case you've lost track of who lost what and who bought what in the last, oh, week and a half.

By the way, David Lazarus in the LA Times notes that : "As our friends in the financial sector were passing the hat among taxpayers last week for $700 billion in bailouts to cover their crappy mortgage investments, they were simultaneously condemning the House of Representatives' passage of a "Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights," which aims to crack down on some of the industry's more troublesome practices."

A look at the Argentinian Financial Crisis in the early 2000's. Hmmm. Hints of what's ahead?

German police arrested suspected terrorists on a KLM flight: "German police raided a plane in Cologne just before it was taking off Friday and arrested two ethnic Somalis, saying they found a suicide note that claimed the men wanted to fight a holy war and die in a terror attack." Have a good flight.

CBS execs were reportedly upset that Dave Letterman patched into internal video feeds to show John McCain getting a makeup job while chatting with Katie Couric when he was supposed to be on Dave's show. Who cares? It was great TV.
Day 2: Dave still on McCain about ditching him. "McCain spokeswoman Nicole Wallace said Thursday that the campaign 'felt this wasn't a night for comedy...We deeply regret offending Mr. Letterman, but our candidate's priority at this moment is to focus on this crisis,' Wallace said on NBC's 'Today' show."

And in case you didn't see it, watch a pretty savvy Chris Rock on Larry King. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) "The choice isn't Republican or Democrat. The choice is you got a guy that's worth $150 million with 12 houses against a guy who's worth a million dollars with one house.The guy with one house really cares about losing a house, because he is homeless. The other guy can lose five houses and still got a bunch of houses. Does this make any sense? Am I the only one that sees this?" I must ask again, why is it that the comedians are the ones with the clear-eyed view of what's really going on in the political process?

On the Road again

The campaign marches on. Obama and Biden stood in the pouring rain to talk with 26,000 Virginians.

Gallup Daily had Obama up three points Saturday. and by this morning, he was up by EIGHT points. I know it's meaningless, but it make me feel better. The Electoral Vote shift has been more pronounced though. Enjoy the trending...

37 days to the election! Reminder again that time is running out--for many states, you must register to vote well in advance of the elections. RockTheVote's list of voter registration deadlines. And if you're voting absentee, you may have to get your ballot in weeks before the Nov 4th Election date. Declare Yourself has links to each state's voter information page where you can find out how to get your absentee ballot. Get those friends of yours in Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire (WTF?), Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida (YES! FLORIDA!) to get out there and vote!