DEBATE LIVEBLOGGING....Sure, it's going to be a townhall format, but is it a small town format? Because we all know that small town values are where it's at these days. Gentlemen, start your engines.
Wrapup – There was more tit-for-tat spatting this time than in the previous debate, but not really anything substantively new. They both had pretty much the same talking points as they did in Oxford, and neither one was especially sharp tonight.
Obama was not at his best, but his answers were mostly fairly clear and straightforward. He did OK. McCain struggled at first, then picked up a bit later, but overall seemed sort of testy and off his feed. And what was with his "that one" reference to Obama? That's not presidential, my friends.
On specific topics: McCain did poorly on energy; Obama did well. McCain did OK on the financial crisis; Obama did much better. McCain blew the "priorities" question; Obama handled it nicely and gets points for not completely accepting Tom Brokaw's framing. McCain did OK on entitlements; so did Obama. Healthcare was sort of a botch for both guys. Overall, a modest but definite victory for Obama.
UPDATE: The CNN insta-poll says Obama won 54%-30%. I'm not surprised Obama won, but I'm a little surprised he won so strongly. I suspect this has something to do with the increasing comfort level with Obama as the debates progress, and also with the steadiness he's demonstrated during the financial crisis. In any case, it's very, very bad news for McCain. Once the comfort level with Obama increases to this level, McCain is doomed.
UPDATE 2: CBS insta-poll of uncommitted voters says Obama won 39%-27%.
10:33 – McCain: "What I don't know is what the unexpected will be." Yogi Berra would be proud.
10:31 – "What don't you know and how will you learn it?" This is just a variation on the old "What's your greatest weakness?" chestnut. Jeers to Brokaw for asking it.
10:26 – Oh please, not preconditions again. Not the League of Democracies. Please. It's like a Kabuki play.
10:24 – OK, we finally have an issue that men care about more than women: Russian energy. Who knew? UPDATE: Iranian nukes too!
10:16 – By the way, didn't McCain sound kind of whiny a couple of minutes ago with his "If Obama gets more time then I want more time too" schtick?
10:15 – McCain once again says he knows how to get Osama but he's not going to tip his hand about how to do it. Sheesh.
10:11 – McCain is really struggling to make Obama sound like a warmonger for wanting to kill Osama if we find him in Pakistan. It's just too much of a stretch for him.
10:10 – Is there anything that men react to more strongly than women? Come on guys, get in touch with your feelings!
10:07 – Once again, McCain is noticeably more comfortable with national security issues than with domestic issues. In the first 40 minutes of the debate McCain tripped over his own words frequently and found himself struggling for words and ideas. Now that we're onto foreign policy, he's far more fluent.
10:05 – Obama is oddly tongue-tied on the subject of humanitarian interventions.
10:02 – McCain and Obama agree that America is the greatest nation on earth. Whew. I'm glad we got that cleared up.
9:58 – Obama: "It's important to crack down on insurance companies that are cheating you." The focus group has gone off the charts. Even the men (who don't react nearly as strong as women) reacted fairly strongly.
9:54 – McCain's "math" on healthcare is a total ramble. I wonder how many people have any idea what he's talking about?
9:52 – When the candidates attack their opponent's plan (as Obama is doing right now on healthcare), the focus group doesn't like it. But is that because they don't like attacks, or is it because they're agreeing that the stuff being attacked really is bad?
9:46 – Obama wants wind and solar. Much better! Everybody likes wind and solar.
9:44 – McCain gets a total softball on his environmental plans. But he's blowing it! Nuclear power is safe! We can reprocess all the toxic waste! Even if that's true, it's a bad answer. Then he follows up with a bit of incoherent rambling.
9:41 – McCain: "Social Security isn't that tough." Well, that's true enough. But on Medicare, McCain thinks the answer is a commission. Hmmm.
9:39 – Obama is getting pretty wonky about his tax plans. But the focus group loves it!
9:33 – McCain didn't seem anxious to mention his gigantic corporate tax cut.
9:28 – Obama hasn't said "John is right" yet. Is this deliberate?
9:27 – Obama says energy is priority #1, healthcare is #2, and education is #3. He refused to take Brokaw's bait and demagogue Social Security. Good for him.
9:24 – McCain wants "all of the above." Literally. He's in serious ramble mode on what his highest priority will be as president.
9:23 – No bear DNA yet, but McCain has a new one: Obama voted for "an overhead projector for a planetarium in Chicago, Illinois." Take that!
9:21 – Isn't Bill Ayers really the source of all our economic woes? Why hasn't McCain pointed that out yet?
9:20 – Obama keeps talking about George Bush and how he mishandled the economy. Why is he unwilling to say the words "Republican Party" instead?
9:18 – American workers are the best exporters and the best importers in the world? What is McCain talking about?
9:17 – Neither candidate wants to admit the obvious, namely that the economy is going to get worse before it gets better. I guess I don't blame them.
9:15 – Obama, on the other hand, actually did a pretty good job of explaining how TARP might help ordinary workers. But now it's back to tit-for-tat against McCain.
9:12 – Oliver wants to know how the bailout bill is going to help people like him. McCain isn't even pretending to answer the question. Instead he's just attacking Obama and his "cronies" who supported Fannie Mae.
9:09 – Is McCain really serious about Meg Whitman as Secretary of the Treasury?
9:07 – I have no idea whether these "dial groups" that CNN monitors during the debate have any validity at all, but I'm fascinated by them regardless. And the dial group, against expectations, really didn't like McCain's idea of bailing out homeowners directly.
9:05 – Yes! Obama wants to fire all those AIG execs who took that $400,000 junket. The focus group goes wild!
9:01 – Wolf says there will be no rambling or filibustering tonight. Why? Because there's a clock. That really doesn't seem to have stopped rambling or filibustering before, but I guess there's a first time for everything.
8:59 – Everybody at CNN thinks that everyone else at CNN is absolutely right about everything they've just said.
And the reason for that appears to be straightforward: cautious, responsible homeowners who took out cautious, responsible loans and bought cautious, responsible houses, are not necessarily thrilled at the idea of their idiot profligate neighbors getting a federal bailout for the idiot profligate loans they took out on their idiot profligate house/remodel/HELOCs. After all, the bulk of the people who need help are not old friends who bought their houses 20 years ago, it's brand new neighbors who swept into the neighborhood in 2006 on a rising tide of debt and shiny new cars. Sympathy for these folks may not be nearly as high as many of us suppose.
