Debate Pre-Game Open Thread

Away we go.  The debate starts at 9 PM Eastern time.

Comments

[sbw]

Release the hounds!

[JM Hanes]

Thanks, TM!

[Jane]

I'm nervous about this one.

[centralcal]

Woo Hoo - a debate thread. Bless ya, Tom!

[centralcal]

Jane. Don't be nervous. W stunk in his first debate and he still beat Kerry!

[matt]

after their performances at Saddleback, I think McCain has the edge. He was natural, pricipled, and engaging while Obama looked like a fish out of water and made some pretty dumb remarks.

If Obama is not working from a teleprompter, he's got problems.

[Elliott]

I'm nervous about this one.

I think Rove was implying the other night that McCain's preparatory regimen may have been wanting. We shall see.

[PaulL]

Possible first question for Obama: Now that President Bush has embraced your strong and smart plan for progress in Iraq and turned that unmitigated disaster around, when will he follow your advice concerning winning the war in Afghanistan, a war that Senator McCain is losing?

[JM Hanes]

Ditto that Jane. Hopefully Obama will be tired and McCain will have snoozed on the plane rather than cramming for the exam. Team Obama has been striving mightily to lower expectations, but it's not like McCain has major skilz.

I'm of two minds about whether it's good or bad that they switched the order of the foreign policy and economy debates. I suspect that Obama didn't want to have to handle foreign policy in a townhallish format. On the other hand, with no Emergency Plan wrapped up, it's probably just as well that McCain won't be put in the position of having to make a bunch of economy related assertions. I suspect that's part of why both candidates agreed to the change, but given the role McCain has decided to play, I think it probably ends up working more to McCain's advantage than Obama's.

[Jane]

I worry that McCain is exhausted. I'm exhausted and I'm 20 years younger and all I did was watch this unfold.

[centralcal]

Just remember, the media will DECLARE Obama the winner regardles of how he does.

This election is about political philosophy - which for me makes The One an automatic loser, no matter what what he says or how he says it.

[Elliott]

McCain's energy level is remarkable. Obama has already had a long day what with that early morning workout.

[JM Hanes]

From descriptions of the conflagration in the White House meeting today, it sounds like Obama was the one most under pressure. The Democrats essentially defaulted the negotiation to him, while McCain played the observer.

David Gergen isn't helping my nerves though. Oh Lord, Amanpour has risen from the dead.

[Sue]

The only problem McCain will have is he has to hit a homerun and Obama just has to stay in the game. The media will pick up the slack for him.

[Ann]

Drinking quotes:

Zer0

"I have always said"
"26 years in Washington"
"tax cuts for 95%"
"stalwart friend"
"security is sacrosanct"
any form of "uh"
"voted for Bush 90% of the time"
"That is why I am so confident"
"It's not helpful"

McCain

"my friends"
"look"
"Acorn"
"Ayers"
"Rezko"

The last three for McCain are double sips. Just being hopeful. :)

[JM Hanes]

The best political team on television really sucks. Is there a better best team somewhere?

[Elliott]

Obama just has to stay in the game

In a way, the Palin pick, or more accurately the reaction to it, has complicated the situation for Obama. He'd better hope Joe Biden isn't contagious.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

It was Obama who demanded the switch. He didn't want the last impression to be the Foreign Policy debate.

[Porchlight]

I think Rove was implying the other night that McCain's preparatory regimen may have been wanting.

Also possible that Rove is trying to game expectations just like the Obama camp is doing.

Well, here we are. I can't believe we've actually made it as far as the first debate. Does Iowa feel like five years ago or what?

[Elliott]

Ann,

"Look," and "Understand" are Obama's, but the whole thing is a "Distraction" from real issues, like how we convince Uncle Tony to see a music teacher.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

New talking point to look for tonight (and drink to) is "McCain has zig zagged" all week or for however long.

[centralcal]

JMH: Please explain why you are watching the best (worst) political team in television! Are you a masochist or somethin'?

Oh, and any segment that has Gergen in it is instantly time to pass out from the drinking game.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Watch to see if Obama dares to impugn McCain's honor to his face, like they've been doing in videos and email campaigns. If that happens, all bets are off.

[Jim]

McCain is 72. He's been active and thinking for himself in Congress 26 years. He has extemporaneous prose. He doesn't need to prep.

[Elliott]

Porchlight,

Are you saying McCain's on double super secret debate preparation?

[MayBee]

Gergen is slightly conservative, guys. He balances the panel like Andrew Sullivan does and like Arianna Huffington used to.

Amanpour is there? Oh boy. Has she yet pointed out that Obama has dark skin and has a lot in common with a French rioter?

[PaulL]

It's best to watch it on C-Span and tune in just one minute before it starts.

[MayBee]

I am very nervous because I've seen McCain be pretty bad.
OTOH, he knows Foreign Policy. If he can just talk instead of speechify, he'll do fine.

Are we drinking on My Friends, Mainstreet, and "I've always said/I've made it clear"?

[centralcal]

uh, no, Maybee, uh, I think, um, uh, we are drinking, um, uh to, um, something, um, else.

[Porchlight]

Elliott,

LOL, yes. This sly maneuver consists of a quick snack and a shot of whisky in the green room. But don't tell anyone. ;)

[JM Hanes]

Ann: If anyone wants to be able to drink while McCain is answering questions, we should probably add duty, honor, country to the list, no?

I also expect Obama will talk about monitoring something or other before we're through. But that's more like an extra credit drink.

On the Obama side, "No one has done more/said more/been more" seems a likely glass raising prospect.

Sheesh. As soon as CNN's on the ground reporter makes a point about dumbing the surge down to 30,000 boots, Amanpour dumbs it down to saying the surge troops are just a confirmation of Shinseki's 100's of thousands argument. I say drink on every word she utters. Hard to believe I used to respect her -- but then, that was back before we had alternative resources on the web.

Whatever happened to that traveling anchor who worked for one of the cable news outfits a few years ago? Ashley something? She really was one of the first women after Amanpour who actually tried taking a crew into the field, and reporting back by sat phone etc.

[MayBee]

Gad, it would thrill me if one of them- or Leher for that matter- showed up just dead drunk.
How fun would that be?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I've closed out all the threads on the bailout so, I'll put this here just FYI:

Via Rich Lowry:

An e-mail: I have a mole participating in staff-level negotiations. He says the ACORN slush fund has been taken out. The 'proxy access' provisions and government equity stake in banks --two of the more contentious issues that will be Member-level issues, to be discussed tonight. House Republicans want to limit cost of the initial tranche and add the Cantor mortgage-backed security insurance provision. Overall, sounds like they are moving toward a deal.

[Ann]

Thanks, Elliott

I was wondering about the "look" quote. We should probably add "pork" and earmarks, too.

[centralcal]

lol, Maybee. Too much fun! So, ain't gonna happen?

[Bill in AZ]

Ann, for every "uh", can I take just a sip? I don't think I could make it past his first question otherwise.

[glenda waggoner]

Let's all chant together "Dutch" and maybe he'll give Mc the calm, "well"..."there you go again" help!

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Ashley Banfield. I think she is at Court TV.

[Elliott]

Do the candidates get to ask each other questions tonight? The McCain campaign has been awfully quiet about this.

[section9]

I actually think that Palin will do quite well against Captain Ego. What the McCain people have done to Palin has been unforgivable. She's a Governor, and they forgot Nixon's rule: you should know a few things very well and be a generalist on all the rest.

The Assclown McCain Campaign had to find a way to screw a good thing up.

Tonight? McCain should fight, fight, fight. Stay with Obama and attack, attack, attack, but do so in a principled fashion.

[JM Hanes]

centralcal:

I'm just surfing the pundits till the debate starts up, when I'll switch over to C-Span. When the other options are Bill O'Reilly and the kindergarten at MSNBC, I thought CNN might acutually be a safe haven. Turns out Howard (Lie Meister) Wolfson on O'R. has the best political insights on the tube so far.

[Bill in AZ]

Do they break for a commercial after every question to Obama so his teleprompter can be prepped?

[Porchlight]

I only have 5/6 of a six pack and then I'll have to break into the bourbon. Well, looks like I'll be drinking bourbon at some point then. I better add some branch water or it's going to be a difficult morning.

[JM Hanes]

Whoops. Wolfson's back on the provisional list for trying to sell Republican responsibility for the financial debacle - although he did it obliquely by describing it as a Dem position which voters "intuitively" agree with.

[JM Hanes]

MayBee:

It might be just as much fun to figure the odds on your drinking words and then knock back your share before the debate begins. Kind of like getting high and watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[JM Hanes]

Ashley Banfield. Thanks Sara. I always thought she got a bum deal.

[hrtshpdbox]

I won't be watching, too anxiety-prone for that. I will, however, be listening to doo-wop 45s, drinking an ale, and repeatedly hitting the "update" button on a time-and-sales Obama intrade chart, rooting that squiggly line down. Hope to see some rousing "out of the park" comments here afterwards!

[Ann]

Jane and Elliott,

I think you both should be free from live blogging tonight. I just love your snark and keen observations.

Of course, Hit would miss out but it's his own fault. :)

[JM Hanes]

I must admit, I'm sorely tempted to do the same, hrtshpdbox. I haven't been able to watch any of the Palin interviews.

Pretty funny that the Dems aren't screaming bloody murder or even whispering Fairness Doctrine over the 24/7 attention Palin has been getting from the press -- while their own Just Joe candidate gets a virtual cold shoulder.

[MayBee]

Ha! JMH!

Porch: I better add some branch water or it's going to be a difficult morning.

I'm suddenly seeing the wisdom of scheduling this on a Friday night.

[baked alaska]

In April 2003, in a speech at Kansas State University, Banfield raised concerns regarding media coverage of the conflict in Iraq. She also blasted "cable news operators who wrap themselves in the American flag and go after a certain target demographic", specifically naming Fox News Channel as an example.[3] According to a New York Times article, her speech angered NBC management who rebuked her and lowered her profile. She was fired in 2004.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashleigh_Banfield

[M. Simon]

The Navy motto is "Always Ready". Duty, honor, country is Army.

[JM Hanes]

Elliott/Jane

I second Ann's motion. If folks don't want to watch the debate live, I'd bet the transcripts will come out almost instantaneously for these final rounds, so I think you should do whatever you feel like doing.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I don't know why people think Michelle Obama dresses well. I haven't see her in anything yet that I would call attractive.

[Elliott]

Ann,

I have always said that tonight the only acceptable course is to mock the Obamessiah without mercy. On that note, Fox had video of Obama arriving. He handed his binder over to his body man. Looks like he was still studying in the car. He'll probably goof trying to squeeze something extra clever into an answer.

What is Cindy McCain wearing? Yikes.

[MayBee]

Ashleigh Banfield was cute, but I always thought she got overfamous for getting caught near the towers on 9/11. She was pretty mediocre both before and after, but MSNBC kept trying to recapture that moment with her.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Banfield was far too fair and balanced for MSNBC even before it way completely around the bend.

Maybee: something very red and very form fitting. Yikes is right.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Sheesh. What is with Jim Lehrer? He sounds terrified he won't be able to control the crowd.

[JM Hanes]

I said I thought Banfield got a bum deal, baked alaska, I didn't say I agreed with her. I think she was a gutsy woman, trying to do something that even Amanpour hadn't really been willing to risk trying, and I admired her for it, regardless of what I thought about her personal political views.

Bashing Fox News, however, has become pure knee jerk self-indulgence on the left. Witness your own last post.

[Jane]

Oh I'm not live-blogging - it's all about snark for me. And JMH - Britt is now on Fox.

I wonder if every question will go to McCain first - like they did with Hillary.

I also liked Dick Morris' suggestion of tying Obama to Bush and the bail-out plan -and I usually can't stand Morris.

[Extraneus]

I bet McCain is going to treat O to some pre-planned body blows that really hurt.

[Jane]

My gawd is there anything more annoying than a dessert who depends on Wikipedia for her talking points. Sheesh.

[MayBee]

Shot of tequila for the first Code Pink interruption.

[Sue]

Gawd, I miss Reagan.

[centralcal]

Are we ready to rumble? Manhattan's at the ready! We miss you DOT!

[Elliott]

Opposite sides from 2004.

[matt]

6:01 - Obama is lying...his lips are moving

[Elliott]

Sen. Obama, your stump speech will not fit into the two minute time limit.

[MayBee]

There it is!
Mainstreet.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

He has it memorized. Oy!

[Jim Ryan]

Turned it off after fifteen seconds. I can't listen to Obama.

I'll just watch y'all's snark up in here.

[Jane]

So he won't tell us his plan, but it sounds like he is adopting any bailout. No matter what it is.

And it is all Bush's fault.

[SukieTawdry]

Attempted smack down. McCain?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Drink

[Porchlight]

Anyone else hearing an echo as Obama's voice gets boomy in places? LOL, that suave baritone is coming back to bite him.

[Porchlight]

Main Street, drink again

[Sue]

No jokes about your age, please.

[bgates]

McCain isn't going to even try to pin this on the Dems. When Obama hits him, and his response is bipartisanship, I think Obama wins.

[Jane]

Obama doesn't want to talk about the plan, and now he says he warned against it.

[Jane]

Oh and he was advising the secretary of the treasury.

[Jane]

Me too Bgates.

[SukieTawdry]

Not a word retaliating Obama's characterization of why we're in this mess. Bad, John; very bad. Now, Bambi's telling us again why we're in this mess and patting himself on he back while he's doing it.

[JM Hanes]

Two years ago Obama warned the Secretary of the coming crisis -- just before he left to start his presidential campaign.

[PDinDetroit]

The Dims don't want accountability...

[Elliott]

Frank Luntz is smiling.

[SukieTawdry]

McCain is not handling this at all well. He better get on beam.

[Jane]

Please please please please McCain, bring up Obama's donations and advisors and all that stuff. Bring up ACORN.

[bgates]

McCain reminding people he's willing to attack Republicans too. McCain isn't going to mention his good friends Barney Frank or Chris Dodd all night long. Nor ACORN, CRA, etc.

[Sue]

Leher interrupted Obama's speech, he had to get it back in his head. Isn't that obvious to everyone?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

What the hell is he talking about?

[Sue]

McCain isn't doing what needs to be done.

[M. Simon]

I just turned it off. Obama is a smooth talking liar and McCain is on the defensive.

Not good.

[SukieTawdry]

So whatever happened to personal responsibility?

[Jane]

Neither of them are saying anything. I'm bored.

[JM Hanes]

I think Lehrer can pretty much give up on the candidates talking to each other, not the camera.

[MayBee]

Why are you all so down on McCain?

[Jane]

So tell us how much Obama has earmarked - it's nearly a billion dollars, come on.

[bgates]

Yeah! Hit Republicans again, John!

Veto sharpie!

[Publius]

The Navy motto is "always ready".

Sorry M. Simon, but as an ole Coastie I can't let this pass.

"Semper Paratus", which means "Always Ready" is the motto of the
U. S. Coast Guard.

I always thought the Navy motto was: "Anchors Away"! :-)

[Jane]

YES!!!!