“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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]