Not that we should be surprised by the opinion of these few, but they encapsulate it well.
First up is Erick Erickson of Redstate, in “I guess Barry decided he already won” and “Obama lies about his ACORN ties“.
From the first Erickson link:
Throughout the night, Barack Obama looked distant, like he did not want to be there, like he was annoyed. He really looked annoyed all night.
McCain on the other hand looked like the comeback kid — the guy who knew he had to do well. And he did.
Here is why it mattered.
Between October 24th and 27th of 1980, Jimmy Carter was ahead of Ronald Reagan by six points. Obama is up three in the traditional Gallup poll and up eight in the expanded Gallup poll.
This becomes very doable for John McCain tonight. It becomes very doable.
Next is Hugh Hewitt, in ‘The Joe The Plumber Debate: McCain Scores and “Senator Government” Stumbles’:
Thank you, Joe W., America’s plumber, wherever you are. He must be a Browns fan.
McCain scored big with the Joe the plumber exchanges, and with the campaign tactics exchange. Obama looked angry and stumbled repeatedly as he tried to cope with what he really told Joe the plumber –guaranteeing the replay of the clip again and again and underscoring Senator Obama’s flexibility when it comes to facts– and with what John Lewis said. Obama’s answer on ACORN was a jaw dropper and opens the door to the MSM, as does the Ayers exchange. McCain drove this home without going overboard. Repeatedly returning to Joe the Plumber was key for McCain, and by the last half hour Obama was petulantly telling Joe what the “right thing to do by his employees” was. John McCain then spoke directly to Joe and put a bright line around Obama’s “spread the wealth” line, and the “fundamental difference” between the campaigns. When Senator McCain slipped and called Senator Obama “Senator Government,” he scored when he didn’t even intend to. That’s the sort of thing that marks a great debate for McCain, when even his verbal flub advances the key message.
Back at it for the fourth and final debate we will be here tonight for the debate at Hofstra. We’ll start as soon after 7 as we all get here. Invites went out to the BP author class on Friday; readers/visitors certainly welcome to participate.
Continue reading ‘3rd Debate Liveblog’
Back at it for the fourth and final debate we will be on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 for the debate at Hofstra. We’ll start as soon after 7 as we all get here.
Continue reading ‘3rd Pres Debate liveblog’
Beldar, guesting on Hugh Hewitt’s TownHall blog, looks at the moment when Obama sued Brokaw for extra response time when it wasn’t due, where in the live blog when it happened I said Obama lost the debate:
In any event, however, that overall exchange was the moment that Captain McCain regained the offensive — not just in the debate, but in the overall campaign — and he got stronger and sharper as Professor Obama continued to flail about ineffectively.
The pivot I referenced in the title to this post was quite literal, and it was vintage Captain McCain: Tom Brokaw (who did a good job suppressing his liberalism and a fine job overall) had fussed at both candidates for running long. That prompted Professor Obama to whine for a relaxation in the rules so that he could have another follow-up, but this came immediately after Captain McCain had pounded him for the first time about his naivete in threatening military action on Pakistani soil without the permission of its government. Brokaw was in mid-sentence refusing to change the rules, when Captain McCain literally whirled and — with the sagacity of the experienced warrior — agreed to Professor Obama’s proposal.
Professor Obama then proceeded to violate the First Rule of Holes (when you realize you’re in one, stop digging) — or, to return to boxing metaphors, he once again decided to lead with his chin. And thus, Captain McCain got yet another chance to pound him with Teddy Roosevelt’s “Speak softly and carry a big stick” line.
Professor Obama speaks loudly, long, and with the glib but callow voice of inexperience. Those who already loved him don’t care. They are drunk, besotted with Obama hopey-changiness, and they will love him even more after tonight. Those who aren’t in love with either candidate, however — those who are still actually getting to know Professor Obama — are the voters who will decide this election. Those critical voters whose minds were not already made up are coming to realize that despite the great first impression he makes, Professor Obama never actually gets any better. He doesn’t suddenly become wiser; he doesn’t suddenly grow a legislative record of accomplishment; on substance, he never transforms himself into anything other than the tax-and-spend Chicago pol which in fact he is. As with Professor Marvel in “The Wizard of Oz,” the sound and visual effects become considerably less impressive on subsequent viewings and the little man behind the curtain harder to ignore.
Last night, following the 2nd Presidential Debate, Fox contributor and pollster Frank Luntz had a focus group watching the debate from Arlington, Virignia. A curious choice, given Arlington’s political bent - in 2004, John Kerry won every precinct - 48 of 48 - in the county.
So at first blush, the response looks bad for the propects in Virginia. But the simple acknowledgement of the voting history of Arlington dispels that myth. George W. Bush carried Virginia by 9 points in 2004, while losing Arlington County (67-31 among 94,650 votes), Fairfax County (53-46 among 461,379 votes), and Alexandria City (66-32 among 61,515 votes). The only other jurisdiction in the state with higher numbers in Kerry’s favor was Richmond City (70-29 on 74325 votes). The only major shift between 2000 and 2004 was Fairfax County, which voted for Bush over Gore in 2000.
For Obama to win Virginia, he will will have to win the Northern Virginia counties by even greater margins than they went for Kerry in 2004. Given the already high margins Arlington and Alexandria, it would take a significant inroad in Fairfax County, something unlikely to occur.
Back to Luntz for a second - the results of his group, at least as aired while Brit Hume was still on the air, were not bad for McCain. It is the bad judgment to choose such a jurisdiction - about the only thing worse could have been San Francisco, New York City or Washington, D.C.. At least New York City has a far greater population base and chance for diversity - but New York is not considered a swing state.
Fresh off the Veep debate liveblog, where Kope, K., B.C. and myself went to town, we’ll do it again tonight for the 2nd Presidential debate on Tuesday. Invites went out to the BP author class a few days ago - though like Kope did last Thursday, if we see you, we’ll approve you in a heartbeat. Visitor comments welcome as well.
Coveritlive has increased their server capacity by 30% since Thursday, where they had system-wide block out to prevent a crash - in the process Kope could not get back in after he got bumped off. That should not be a problem, as they have sent out an email
We’ll go live as soon after 7pm as we’re here. K won’t get here until a little after 8pm due to family obligations.
Fresh off the Veep debate liveblog, where Kope, K., B.C. and myself went to town, we’ll do it again Tuesday for the 2nd Presidential debate on Tuesday. Invites out shortly to the BP author class - though like Kope did last night, if we see you, we’ll approve you in a heartbeat. if Coveritlive can handle it - they were swamped last night, likely due to the huge interest in the Palin-Biden debate (some 69.9M viewers - most ever for a Veep debate and 33% higher than last Friday’s McCain-Obama debate)
Continue reading ‘2nd Pres Debate liveblog’
I didn’t get a chance to complete my post-debate post last night - I was zonked enough I just had to crash.
Last night, Ifill asked a question on the role of the Vice President. Palin got this question right, in that the V.P. is both the President of the Senate and the heir-in-waiting to the President. Ed Morrissey is has a short post on the matter here. Morrissey also tackles the idiocy of Biden’s calling Cheney the most dangerous VP ever.
Biden, the supposed Constitutional expert to Palin’s neophyte, even got wrong which Article of the Constitution refers to Congress - it is Article I. Just because modern Vice Presidents do not take their duty as Presiding officer of the Senate as seriously as others did in the past, does not mean they hold no power or responsibility in the legislative branch.
Biden from the debate:
And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there’s a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.
Explicit, eh? As Morrissey points out, the Vice President is always the President of the Senate. Not just when it’s a tie vote. I guess Biden is not aware of the time when the Vice President was the loser of the electoral vote for President (Think Thomas Jefferson the in 1796 election - he finished 2nd to John Adams in the electoral vote) - it wasn’t until the 12th amendment, ratified in 1804, that the practice was changed, as a direct result of the flaw discovered in 1800 when Jefferson and Burr tied for the number of electoral votes.
Also worth reading on the Biden gaffe are Matthew J. Franck in NRO’s Bench Memos and Shannen Coffin in NRO’s The Corner.
Fresh off the Liveblog of the first Presidential debate on Friday, we’ll be back at it on Thursday for the Palin-Biden debate. We’ll go live as soon as after 7pm as we get here.
Continue reading ‘Veep Debate Liveblog’
The debate is on, so we will be here. Consider this a bump of the advance warning post of Monday, 9-22. Chat to go live at 7pm, debate starts at 9.
Continue reading ‘The Debate is On!’
Fresh Cracks...