“Shares My Values”

That same CBS poll notes:

Before the debate, fifty-four percent thought Obama shared their values. That percentage rose to sixty-four percent after the debate. For McCain, fifty-two percent thought he shared their values before the debate, and fifty-five percent thought so afterwards.

Live Blogging with Cocktails 2 by dressedtogo

UPDATE (aka the morning after):

McCain fought for his life. Fought. He had some pretty good jabs, especially early on. And he certainly put Obama on the offensive more than Obama put McCain on the offensive.

But looking at the polling, it appears that people are simply relating more to Barack Obama. Which is astounding if you think about it. As scrutin said, calm and steady trumped feisty and angry AGAIN.

McCain did everything he needed to do, and it was a much more convincing and specific performance from him. But it appears that people had already made up their minds.

*

9:10 EST: So, already the cocktails got the best of me. I am starting the debate 10 minutes late. Thanks goodness for DVR

So, dressedtogo Live Blogging with Cocktails -10.

Bob Scheefer scares me. Barack looks hot.

9:15 EST: Angry. John McCain is angry. At least, he said it 4 times. You know what, I’m angry too, John McCain. At your hateful campaigning of late.

Barack jumps right in. Looks directly at the camera. Sounds more logical. McCain was wrong when he said homeowners and citizens are “innocent.”" We are not innocent. We bit off more than we could chew. He is talking quite fast, though.

9:19 EST: Plumber?

9:24 EST: The tax conversation is so surface level. “Raise taxes” or “Lower taxes.” Give us more credit. Stop talking circles around yourselves.

9:23 EST: Joe the Plumber? Really? McCain is wearing so much makeup.

9:29 EST: Spending = hatchets and scalpels. And enough with the overhead projector! (my buddy babyjonr dealt with this awhile ago)

9:36 EST: this is by far McCain’s best debate. I tend to think that it is because they are sitting down. We are not seeing their physical differences.

McCain equates Obama’s refusal to do the Town Hall debates to the anger and hatred of his campaign? Are you kidding?! Obama responds. He is talking issues more than mccain. McCain is talking politics. “I don’t mind being attacked for the next 3 weeks…” I just wish Obama could say “People are shouting “Kill ME” at your rallies, and you are not condemning it!” But he can’t…. HE DID! ! ooohhh snap!

9:45EST: McCain is given the opportunity to tell all of America “I am not responsible for those fringe comments at my rallies. They are not expressive of my view.” But he didn’t. HE played the victim. And as a result, he is now a completely dishonorable man. Shame on him. Shame on him.

9:51EST: This Ayers / ACORN discussion is repulsive. And it made McCain look dirty. Let’s move on. Oh, great. To running mates.

Obama on Biden – boring and biographical. but could resonate. core values, energy, regular guys, experience, american families…

McCain on Palin – insane. role model to women? reformers? mavericks? took on? what? money to the taxpayers? cut the size of gov’t – do we need that now? “reformer through and through”. “breath of fresh air”. “old boy network” = YOU, john mccain! reformer. special needs. “autism on the rise”?? united OUR party? proud of her? husband? tough? DOES SHE KNOW ANYTHING!? FOREIGN POLICY?

10 EST: mccain: “we dont tell countries that we unilaterally renegotiate with them.” re: canadian oil. yeah, but we unilaterally invade them.

10:03 EST: i think the cocktails beat obama and mccain. i can not stay objective anymore. im in too deep. columbia…. healthcare…. booooooorrrring. they are both boring.

10:11EST: mccain is so… uppity. JOE THE PLUMBER AGAIN!? mccain just attacks obama (“canada!” “england!”) but never describes his own plans. zzzzzz……..

10:18 EST: supreme court justices – FINALLY! mccain is SO CONDESCENDING. mccain says “breyer” instead of “alito.” pay attention, mr. potential president. obama +1 for saying “hypocratic oath”. obama says “abortion is a oral issue.” different for a dem.

10:33 EST: andrew sullivan says what i can not, because i like both wine and obama too much:

At no point have we seen a grace note from McCain. When dealing with the negativism of the campaign, it would not have killed him to seem genuinely horrified at calls for violence rather than offended that anyone dare criticize him or some of his supporters. Or to wish Obama well. It’s this lack of generosity of spirit that he lacks and that people want in a president. Obama still manages to say when he agrees with or admires McCain. In this whole dynamic, Obama seems more secure, more self-controlled, more mature. He is the Alpha Male on this stage, and McCain the bristling teen – aged 72. No wonder women seem to be so disproportionately pro-Obama.

10:35 EST: mccain was more convincing on education. more authoritative. but soooo condescending… again.

10:39 EST: a close draw. but mccain loses because he is a) condescending and b) he can not repudiate the tactics of his running mate and his supporters. he can not same obama’s name. he can not stand up for what is right by denouncing those that say “kill him!” at HIS rallies. shame on him. he had the chance. and he blew it. and people will remember.

and now on the project runway finale…

Just the Facts

The Los Angelese Times has a fact check on last night’s debates. One point that I keep hearing McCain hammer on is the supposed 94 time Obama voted for tax hikes. The reality goes a little more like this…

McCain again charged that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times, which the nonpartisan Factcheck.org identified as one of the “whoppers of 2008.”

According to the group’s analysis, 23 of the votes were against tax cuts. Seven would have raised taxes for some but lowered taxes for others. Eleven would have increased taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. Factcheck.org also found that 53 of the 94 votes were on nonbinding measures, which would not have resulted in any tax change.

Reaction Groups Agree, Win to Obama

The Huffington Post has a good wrap up of the various reaction Groups and insta-polls here.

To sum it up,

FOX, CNN, CBS REACTION GROUPS:

OBAMA WON

One point to mention, Obama’s pick for Treasury Secretary, financial legend Warren Buffett. John McCain’s Pick,  dotcom CEO Meg Whitman.

A Bit of Levity — Debate Bingo

From my friend Ann:

The second Presidential Debate is in Nashville on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Since watching the two previous debates have given me hives, I’ve decided to try something a little different this time. Benadryl, you suggest? No, Bingo.

Here’s how: Come up with a list of words you suspect/hope/fear will be used in Tuesday night’s debate.

Here’s my preliminary list.

When you are done, go to this site.

Make a bingo card as large as you like (I am making a 7 x 7 one with a star in the middle) and for as many people as you will be watching with. Dubious interpretations and prizes should ensue.

You Betcha, SNL Kills

With Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill, Tina Fey is too good to be believed. She hits every gag, you can’t miss this.

The Sarah Palin Debate Strategy

Via John Gruber’s Twitter feed. Find the original here.

All she did was save herself

Conservative Ross Douthat of the Atlantic has a nice summary…

But those same initial polls also show respondents giving it to Biden, and I’m not all that surprised. He didn’t need to wipe the floor with her in order to win, and he wisely didn’t try; he just needed to sound more authoritative, nuanced, and experienced than her, to hammer away at John McCain, and to generally play defense for a ticket that’s on its way to victory at the moment. And I think he succeeded. The Democrats have a lot of built-in advantages in this election cycle, and judging by the public’s reaction to the first debate, the key to victory for Obama-Biden is to do no harm – don’t squander your advantages, don’t freak out when the Republicans score their points on the surge and offshore drilling, and just be sure to always nudge the conversation back to the economy, to middle-class tax cuts versus tax cuts for the rich, to health care, and to George W. Bush’s record. So while Sarah Palin did an awful lot for Sarah Palin tonight, there was only so much she could do for her running mate - given her own limits, but especially given the state of the country, and the gulf between the issues the McCain campaign wants to fight on and the issues voters care about. She’s saved herself from Quayle-dom, but Obama-Biden is one debate closer to victory.

The Debate About The Debate

John McCain has pulled out of the Presidential debate. I think this is a very deliberate political move to once again divert America’s attention. By doing this I think he believes:

• He will get to say that he is bringing Washington together by working across the aisle.
• If Obama doesn’t agree he can be made to look like he is not on top of the issue (it is still an issue he needs to deal with as a senator).
• He will look presidential by bringing himself, Obama and Bush together to work out a solution.
• It will help erase some of the memory of the neglect of Katrina by dropping everything to deal with important issues (common theme for the Republicans).
• It will get him out of talking about Iraq.
• McCain knows he will be stronger in a debate on Iraq when the financial crisis is not at the top of people’s minds. 

Most likely in a debate, he will parrot the line of the current generals on the ground (ie General Patraeus) that the force is necessary to maintain security for the citizenry so that Iraq can build government and services. This will be presented in contrast to Obama who is more in line with the General Casey strategy (and the Joint Chiefs) who were promoting the “stand down so the Iraqis stand up” strategy. The surge strategy has, to this point, improved the security situation and the Iraqi government has made limited progress in the wake of that.

There are 3 points that Obama needs to focus on in this debate:

1. We are over committed. We have no strategic reserves left for trouble in other regions of the world. The surge represented an all-in strategy by deploying all remaining divisions. This leaves no reserves for addressing Afghanistan or any other hotspot in the world. While temporary stability has been achieved, the strategy is one of multiple surges. In order to maintain the level of presence McCain advocates he will have to reinstate the draft.
2. The country is on the verge of economic collapse. The war has driven the country to the edge, and we need to focus on our country and building its economy before it is too late. The war is a tremendous financial burden that the country can no longer continue to bear.
3. The current strategy has no end and no vision. Bush’s strategy has been to simply kill all of the enemy combatants until there are none left. He has a body count mentality of the war. When you look at the idea of an extended presence this is what you are going to get. The problem is slowly the entire population becomes hostile and the fighting continues until there is no one left. That is the myopic military view. Obama has to present a vision of political resolution, a “hearts and minds” strategy (although not calling it that and dragging us back to Vietnam failure) where bettering the lives of people rescues them from warfare.

Bush always speaks in terms of idealistic concepts, “People love freedom, we want to promote democracy.” Unfortunately, he has little understanding of what that is. Iraq is not a democracy, it is a military dictatorship, with the President of the United States in the role of dictator. At the end of the day, there will most likely be a bloodbath in Iraq when the US pulls out, no matter when that is. The question is when is that going to happen and how bad is it going to be. 

General Casey’s plan was to pull out troops, let the Iraqis battle it out and only step in when violence reaches the level of a Srebrenica. The hope is that this would force the Iraqis to take responsibility of the war and their country. I hope we can do better. No matter how you look at it the administration should have all listened to Colin Powell when he explained the Pottery Barn rule of war, “If you break it, you own it.”