McCain: another Petraeus reference.

:D

High five!

How does McCain propose that we "surge" in Afghanistan when our armed forces are stretched so thin already?

I will give McCain some props for that line, though: "I looked into Putin's eyes and I saw three letters. K.G.B."

I'm so sick of hearing this "Soothing" voice from McCain...

For once the men are happier than the women - with McCain talking about Russia.

The women are back on top ;)

Ohio men like it when McCain talks tough to them.

Obama stole McCain's chance at a good response to the follow-up Russia question there with his thoughtful response and left McCain going with a meek "maybe"

"Maybe" ftw!!

McCain knows how to fix SSI EASILY....

McCain can catch Osama, no problem....He just doesn't want to let anybody know until he's president....

What else did I miss?

oh yay...an israel question *barf*

Big miss by McCain there. Obama equivocated on the yes or no question, and all McCain had to do was give a direct answer. It would have scored major points. Instead, he said "maybe".

McCain going back to the "without preconditions obama would sit down with Iran" thing that Obama already defused and clarified to the seeming satisfaction of the focus group last debate

McCain milks the service record of his questioner for all that it is worth! Obama keeps his cool, though, and speaks directly to the same guy, just as McCain did.

"My friends, General Petraeus knows that I am a maverick."

"What I don't know is what the unexpected will be" :eek:

mccain tripping over his ending here

Now I get to watch each side's supporters proclaim victory.

I wonder what's on ESPNU.

means we'll see Joe Biden, but doubtless we won't see Sarah Palin

Did McCain just refuse to shake hands with Obama and make him shake politcal-barbie's hand instead?

what a fucking douche McCain. Tap the guy on the shoulder and then refuse to shake his hand?

I actually think McCain did better in this one than he did the first one.

naw, McCain patted obama on the back and just didnt see the hand IMO.

McCain really needs to STFU with the my friends stuff. It sounds stupid. It doesn't seem natural to him.

I think Obama wins the debate hands down. This pretty much sealed it for me. Obama all the way.

McCain is ok, but his VP is terribad and he really isn't dynamic enough.

We need a dynamic individual in office right now. Someone like Ronald Regan in the 80's.

It was another draw... that definitely doesn't help McCain any though.

Wel considering I thought McCain won the first one perhaps my dial is off.

Well since we did like to refer to the CNN focus group... this time it was 13 or 12 for Obama to 10 for McCain... very, very close.

Damn you! Damn you! If I can't get to post ORLY owls to Social Security is Easy to fix, no one should! :D

have those been regulated?

good point on the cnn post-debate wrap-up here about how Obama is still onstage shaking hands and talking with the people there in the room while McCain booked it out of there early

last time, I called the first debate a 10-10 round, filled with jabs and counter punching. Still mostly jabs and counter punching here, but I think Obama took this one in a narrow 10-9 round, close to 10-10. I wanted to deduct a point for the "fixing Social Security is easy" stupidity, but decided I wasn't going to go there.

might just be me but saying I'd never heard of Fannie and Freddie before recent times kinda ticked me off but I understand that that is right in my wheelhouse so it should be taken with a grain of salt.

nah...that's very true

god i love james carville

What these debates need, is when the candidates throwaway the time limits and the rules:

Wrap it Up! | Chappelle's Show | Comedy Central

You never heard of Fannie and Freddie? Aren't you in real estate?

I'm still unsure what to think about the "fixing Social Security is easy" line, for me the most memorable of the night from either candidate.

On one hand, I want to be a responsible citizen, to press for a real response, and to pin both guys down on a criminally under-reported issue that I actually care a lot about.

On the other hand, if I'm rooting for my candidate and want him to win the election, the pragmatist in me realizes that you simply can't say anything at all about SS without making people go batty. Raising taxes, reducing benefits, indexing, age limit increases, cutoff points -- the whole damned thing is high voltage stuff. So, I guess the McCain response, while far from being "straight talk," was probably ideal for what he wants -- to not turn off the voters by saying something objectionable.

For me, that sort of thinking becomes a really tough issue. I don't want to "settle" for the practical, safe, triangulated answer. But I'm smart enough to realize that anyone who speaks candidly enough to satisfy me (I'm a big boy, I can take my medicine if you explain to me why I need to) is going to alienate twenty other voters with the exact same candor. People like me don't get to determine elections - it's the other twenty people who do.

Kinda sucks. Easier to pick sides and just make fun of the other guy than it is to actually feel invested in some of the issues, and to constantly be frustrated that there's really nothing that happens on the campaign trail that bears directly on some of the issues that we know are lying in wait for the winner.

you misread flasch's post. he said that McCain saying that pissed him off because he does know about them.

i had to read it twice too, but that's what he was saying

CNN undecideds say Obama won 54-30. CBS undecideds say Obama won 39-27. On Fox, Frank Luntz lied about how many in his focus group supported McCain on the economy and Hume called him out. It is clear that Obama won.

Social Security really isn't the catastrophic disaster it's portrayed as being. Easy may not be the right word, but it can be stabilized without crushing the economy. Medicare, on the other hand is a guaranteed disaster.

yikes - david gergen just played the race card in saying obama may still be in trouble

Man, that was an invigorating, insightul debate!

Oh wait, no it wasn't.

What a rhetoric-filled waste of time. I declare nobody the winner (though at least Obama appears human and some-what genuine), and declare the two-party system and us poor suckas stuck under it as the losers.

thats my point...Ive heard about 'em....A LOT for many many years yet McCain kind of said I'd probably not heard of them so it ticked me off but im sure 'joe six pack' :) maybe hasnt...i dont really know.

sorry, clarity in posts is not one of my strong points.

Other stuff from that CNN Poll:

Opinion of Barack Obama
Before debate: 60% Positive / 38% Negative
After debate: 64% / 34%

Opinion of John McCain:
Before: 51% / 46%
After: 51% / 46%

Sure did. I don't think many will admit to it but I am sure there are some that have this same reservation (that race is still a major issue in our country). I would like to believe that it will not play a part but a part of me thinks that it will.

Ow. Drudge has a big picture with McCain in the foreground talking on the microphone, and Obama waiting for his turn to speak in the background.

Caption: BORING.

When Drudge can't summon the positives for ya.. that's bad.

HAHAHAH

DaddyTorgo (11:33:12 PM): anderson cooper just shit on the spin room
DaddyTorgo (11:33:39 PM): "we're not going there tonight, because it's just not worth it. if you wanna see it go to another network because it's just not worth it. all they do is spin. it's even in the name of the room."

He's right to a degree. He probably overestimates the Bradley Effect, I think 5% and above will be "safe" in the booth in all states. But the effect will come to fruition to some degree. Obama will lose votes. It isn't because the country is full of crazy racists. Its because when candidates are close to equal, people are more likely to vote for the person who's image they can most identify with. A young half Kenyan who grew up in Hawaii and overseas isn't that guy.

Carville brought up an interesting point as well, what happens if Obama has a 3%+ lead into the booth and loses it? What kind of clusterf* will we see nationwide when it looks like the leading candidate might have lost just because of his background, including race? It could get ugly....

Charlie may throw a chair through the window....