The Independent vote is in and Sen. Barack Obama won last night by an even wider margin than he did in previous debates.  In a CNN poll of several hundred independent debate watchers, 57% of the independents said that Obama won the debate.  Only 31% said McCain won the debate.  In a CBS poll, 53% of uncommitted voters said that Obama won the debate while only 22% said that McCain won.  A Fox News focus group was asked which candidate won the debate and a “clear majority” of the group said that Obama won.  Finally, an MSNBC poll showed that Obama won the debate 20 to 7.  It looks as if this final debate was not the game-changer that McCain was hoping for. 

And by the way, Joe the plumber, who makes over a quarter million dollars a year, is not your average Joe.  To compare this plumber who is making over $250,000 a year to Joe sixpack or your average Joe who makes under $50,000 a year is insulting to our intelligence.  The McCain campaign believes that because his name is Joe and he is a plumber that they can bamboozle voters into believing that this guy is your average American struggling to make ends meet in this floundering economy.  Well Joe is quarter millionaire Joe.  Yes, Joe who makes more than 95% of Americans will have to pay the same tax percentage that was paid by that tax bracket during the Clinton administration……you remember, when the economy was flourishing.  The amazing irony, as highlighted by Sen. Obama, is that had Joe the plumber been receiving the tax cuts for the middle class that Obama proposes when Joe was working 12-hour days and trying to save enough money to buy his plumbing business, Joe the plumber could have bought his plumbing business alot sooner than he has under the Bush-McCain tax plan.

The topic of tonight’s debate is the economy, the economy, the economy.  Not exactly Sen. McCain’s strong point.  Thus Sen. Obama should be prepared for Sen. McCain to raise several distractions.  This is McCain’s last stand and he is desperate to change the subject.  Therefore, as far as the McCain campaign is concerned, nothing is off the table. Obama should expect McCain to employ the politics of hate and whatever else he comes up with in an attempt to change the subject and appeal to the worse part of the human spirit.  McCain has already said that he plans to bring up the William Ayers thing to Obama’s face tonight.  Unlike prior debates, the candidates will be sitting at a table facing each other with Bob Schieffer moderating.  Both candidates should be on their toes because Schieffer plans to get specifics. 

Heaven forbid McCain should have a real plan for the economy…way to much to ask for.

Sen. John McCain has been goading Sen. Barack Obama for months to have a townhall meeting perceiving himself as some kind of master of this style of debate.  Well, last night McCain got his shot and guess what?  Obama took the school and the town in which it’s located.  CNN conducted a poll of independent  voters watching the debate and Obama won the debate 54% to 30%.  Fox News (yes that’s right), CNN, and CBS, independent viewer polls show that Obama won the debate. By the way Sen. McCain, yes the majority of voters have heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Voters in this election are a pretty smart group.  They are newly engaged, and to your detriment, they are paying attention to this presidential race.  So you saying that the average voter probably don’t know what is Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, is condescending and insulting to the average American’s intelligence.

As for McCain’s claim that he wants to buy up home mortgages and renegotiate those mortgages at the ”face” value of those homes….really?  Is that why McCain’s own party tried to prevent and intimidate the citizens of Michigan affected by foreclosures from voting?   Yea…somehow it is doubtful that McCain or his party has the interest of  citizens caught up in the subprime debacle at the top of their priority list.  And by the way…this is a proposal that has already been passed by Congress and is existing law.  And guess what, Sen. Obama endorsed a similar, better idea two weeks ago and the proposal is included in the $700 billion dollar bailout package.  So McCain’s claim that it is his idea is completely false.  The a better proposal and law is already on the books and had McCain did a search on “the Google” he could have found out that information before claiming the bad idea as his own.   McCain has been in Washington for 26 years, where was all the concern or effort to help “put Americans back to work” during his 26 year tenure?  All of a sudden, now that he is running for President, McCain is a friend of the working class.  Sen. McCain is again trying to mislead the American people.  We do not trust you to do what you claim because of the history of you and your campaign misleading the public.  

As for McCain’s claim that we are sending $700 billion dollars a year to countries that do not like us very much…he repeats this false claim in most of his speeches regarding energy independence.  Factcheck.org had this to say:

“We’ve got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t want us very – like us very much” ([McCain] actually used the figure three times in the debate.) He’s talking about what we spend importing oil, and he’s said the same thing at the last debate and numerous other times. At current oil prices, the correct figure is about $493 billion. About a third of that goes to Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom, which were still on the friendly side of the ledger last time we looked.

Most of us were truly moved when Sen. Joe Biden choked up while remembering the death of his first wife and their daughter during a automobile accident many years ago.  Gov. Sarah Palin was not at all affected and without so much as an acknowlegement to Sen. Biden about his loss, Palin went into a one-minute monologue about why McCain is a so called “maverick.” One writer summed it up perfectly.

She might have undone whatever good will she earned with her “aw, shucks” Wasilla hockey mom ways, though, when she utterly failed to react after Biden choked up while discussing the death of his first wife and their daughter.

Palin’s response was ice cold: “People aren’t looking for more of the same. They are looking for change. And John McCain has been the consummate maverick in the Senate over all these years.”

The New York Times  Editorial Board got it right.

But Ms. Palin never really got beyond her talking points in 90 minutes, mostly repeating clichés and tired attack lines and energetically refusing to answer far too many questions.

Senator Biden did well, avoiding one of his own infamous gaffes, while showing a clear grasp of the big picture and the details. He left Ms. Palin way behind on most issues, especially foreign policy and national security, where she just seemed lost. It was in those moments that her lack of experience — two terms as mayor of a tiny Anchorage suburb and less than two years as governor — was most painfully evident.

To be clear, Palin cleared the very low bar of verbalizing at least one coherent thought during the ninety-minute debate.  However, the bar is considerably higher to be the vice president of the most powerful nation in the free world. As a matter of a fact, Palin appeared as if she was running for prom queen with the eye-winking, the shout-outs to third graders, and refusing to answer pressing questions concerning the anxieties and doubts of the American people regarding the economy and foreign policy.  Instead, resorting back to the tired cliches and talking points of the McCain campaign.  The best part was when she praised Bill Cheney for his handling of the vice presidency.   In fact, Palin ultimately asserted that the Cheney model for the vice presidential position is what she aspires to use as her guide “if she and McCain are so blessed as to be” voted into office.  Hopefully, the American people will be so blessed as to NOT have to suffer through a McCain-Palin administration.

Most of us are on pins and needles in anticipation of tonight’s vice presidential debate featuring Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin.  Most think that Biden will wipe the floor with Palin and under normal circumstances that may be true.  However, these are not normal circumstances. The McCain fought and fought hard to get a more structured format where Palin’s lack of knowlege will not be as obvious.  Also, Palin is a skilled debater,  she did win the Alaskan gubernatorial debate against a seasoned democratic opponent.  Further, Palin has been practicing night and day almost since she was selected as McCain’s running mate.  Palin is also a quick study.  Lastly, Palin has a folksy and affable personality where she can deliver her out-of-the-mainstream views in an ingratiating or affecting way.  Her delivery is less jarring and less offensive than most right wing candidates.  Sen. Biden really needs to be respectful but clear as to why this woman is unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  Most of all, Biden needs to be succinct.  The McCain campaign has already sent out the talking points regarding Gwen Ifill’s book that has not been released yet claiming that the 27 year veteran journalist cannot be objective.  Hopefully, such talking points will not deter Ifill from asking both candidates the tough questions.  We don’t think that it will.  Besides, Ifill also moderating the vice presidential debates in 2004….she is a seasoned professional whose credentials and objectivity is beyond reproach.  Interesting as to why the right wing would be questioning her objectivity at this particular time.  We are sure that the Biden and Ifill are sexist talking points are already drafted for Friday’s news cycle.  Gwen Ifill will do her job and do her job well the same as always.  Give me a freakin break!

John McCain has asked to call off the debate on Friday because he feels that his immediate presence is needed in Washington DC.  McCain has not been to work since April but now he feels that he should miss the debate to address the financial situation.  As scary as the idea, in and of itself, of McCain being the person handling the economic turmoil that our financial industry finds itself in, McCain makes this decision at a time when we the voters need to hear his plan for getting us out of this mess.  Attempting to postpone the debate makes him appear unprepared, desperate, and unable to handle more than one thing at a time.  Hey wait…turns out that McCain isn’t prepared.  Link

The debate on Friday was to focus on Mr. McCain’s perceived strength, foreign policy. Mr. McCain had not planned to devote large blocks of time to debate practice as did Mr. Obama, who was holing up with a tight circle of advisers at a hotel in Clearwater, Fla., on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to prepare. Mr. McCain had a preparatory session on Wednesday afternoon at the Morgan Library in Manhattan, but advisers said it had been interrupted by his decision, announced immediately afterward, to suspend his campaign 

For the record, though McCain claims that his suggestion is an effort to rise above politics, his decision to delay the debate could not be more political.  The polls came out yesterday showing Sen. Obama with a growing lead and McCain and his campaign panicked.  Obama is within four points of McCain in West Virginia!!!!!!  West Virginia is solid red country!!!  They realized that Sen. Obama has the wind at his back and the McCain campaign are trying to turn off the fan with a political stunt because they can’t do so with a good economic plan (they don’t have one).   Not only does McCain think that the current situation warrants a delay of his debate but warrants a canceling of the vice presidential debate.  Seriously?????  Do they really think that the American people are going to put Palin in the White House without hearing her debate and speak in a non-McCain staged environment.  McCain does not sit on any of the relevant committees that are currently in deep negotiations.  Several Congressmen have come out and said that McCain’s presence would actually hurt the process.   The crisis began a week ago..you remember……when McCain said that “the fundamentals of our economy is strong.”  Why didn’t McCain cancel the debate at that time?  McCain appears frantic and erratic……he does not appear to be the steady leader we expect of a future President.   If we had a debate in 1934 during D-Day we think that McCain can make his way down to Ole Miss without the the nation falling into a vortex.  You need to be able to multitask as the leader of the free world.  What’s next…..should we suspend the election until McCain catches up?  The main stream media has rejected McCain’s latest ploy as pure politics. 

It was stated best in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal:

Last we checked, the President of the United States was still George W. Bush, the Secretary of the Treasury was still Henry Paulson, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was still Ben Bernanke, and Congress still had 533 members not running for President who are at least nominally competent to debate and pass legislation.

So count us as mystified by Senator John McCain’s decision yesterday to suspend his campaign and call for a postponement in Friday’s first Presidential debate so that he and Barack Obama can work out a consensus bill to stabilize the financial system. This is supposed to be evidence of leadership?

 Washington Post

Can McCain pull this off – persuading the public to forget how he and his fellow Reagan Republicans changed the nation’s economic rules in ways that allowed Wall Street to run amok, and refocusing its attention on his decisiveness at this moment of crisis? I doubt it…….McCain’s ploy was transparent.

The Dallas Daily News

Democrats accused Mr. McCain of pulling a stunt to halt a slide in the polls. They also tweaked him for declaring the economic situation so dire it requires suspension of his campaign, a week after he declared the fundamentals of the economy are sound.

Some independent analysts agreed. “It is a stunt. It is a ploy,” said David S. Birdsell, dean of the school of public affairs at Baruch College in New York, an expert on presidential debates.

He called it a “very high-risk strategy” for Mr. McCain to take responsibility for brokering a solution to the economic crisis. “He’s not president yet,” Dr. Birdsell said, adding that pulling out of a debate is unprecedented. “That notion that we take one of the most sacred obligations and rituals of American politics and suspend it because there’s an urgent national question is highly problematic.”

Rocky Mountain News (CO):

If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America. In this case, Barack Obama is right.

New York Times Editorial

We don’t know if Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama will do any good back in Washington. But Mr. McCain’s idea of postponing the Friday night debate was another wild gesture from a candidate entirely too prone to them. The nation needs to hear Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain debate this crisis and demonstrate who is ready to lead. 

The campaigns released the presidential and vice presidential debates schedule today and guess which network was noticeably absent….sucks for you ABC.  PBS will host the vice presidential and a single presidential debate.  NBC and CBS will moderate the last two presidential debates.

ABC’s absence may be a result of its democratic primary debate hosting gig that many perceived as a “gotcha” style debate  sans substantive issues.  That ABC primary debate was hosted by Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos.

Schedule:

Presidential Debates

Jim Lehrer, Sept. 26, at the University of Mississippi @9pm EST  (foreign policy debate)
Tom Brokaw, Oct. 7, in Nashville at Belmont University @9pm EST   (townhall meeting, questions from the audience)
Bob Schieffer, Oct. 15, at Hofstra University @9pm EST  (domestic policy debate)

Vice Presidential Debate
Gwen Ifill, Oct. 2, at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri @9pm  (domestic and foreign policy)

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had their final debate, before the Jr Tuesday March 4th primaries, in Ohio.  Both candidates held their own.  There were a couple of tense moments where both candidates accused each other of negative campaign tactics and clashed over Healthcare, NAFTA, Iraq, and foreign policy.  Clinton mentioned the Saturday Night Live clip and attempted to rehash the joke by asking whether the moderators wanted to offer Obama a pillow.  I don’t think that she got the response from the audience that she hoped for.  Clinton also mentioned that she is always being called on first for questions but doesn’t mind, however, did want the moderators to be aware of it.  Some predict that the statement was an attempt to garner sympathy from voters regarding her alleged unfair treatment by the press.  I also think that Clinton was trying to find an opening to use the Saturday Night Live skit, and when one didn’t present itself soon enough, she created an opening.  Unfortunately for her, again, the attempted joke fell flat.  Maureen Dowd writes an article in the New York Times regarding the alleged Obama favorable press charge by the Clinton campaign.  The gist of the article is that the charge is silly because of the special treatment that the Clinton campaign has received.  As an example, the article offers as proof of the openmindness of the press, the fact that no other candidate could lose 11 contests in a row by such large margins and still be embraced and touted by the press as a major contender.  We have all heard it, “don’t count a Clinton out,” “Hillary could come back.”  Does anyone actually believe that if the situation were reversed and Obama had lost 11 contests in a row by such wide margins that the press would still be touting him as a contender?  Visions of Mike Huckabee comes to mind.  Democratic party leaders would be asking him to fade out so that the party can began moving toward the general election.  Clinton also finally said that she regrets her vote on the Iraq war.  Unfortunately for the Clinton campaign, the debate was not a game changer.  The Clinton campaign went in hoping for a major blunder by Obama, or at least a big moment, that will somehow turn the tide in its direction.  That moment didn’t come.  Both candidates performed well and the debate seemed to this writer to be a draw.  However, current MSNBC post-debate polls show that 70% of the people watching the debate thought that Obama won, while 30% thought Clinton won out of the 97,000 people who have voted.  Latest national polls released before the debate also revealed that Obama is now leading Clinton by double digits.  The latest Rasmussen poll shows Obama closing in on Clinton’s lead in Ohio with Clinton at 48% and Obama at 43%.  According to the latest CNN poll, Obama is leading in Texas with 50% to Clinton’s 46%.

Hillary Clinton has developed a different posture since her closing comments at the CNN debate last Thursday.  Most believed that Clinton’s final comments on Thursday were those of a conciliatory candidate.  This writer did not necessarily agree with such sentiment due to Clinton’s final statementswipe at Obama at the end of the debate.  What began as a congenial closing comment by Clinton, ended with her in essence saying that she hopes that the American people will survive if voters do not choose her as the nominee.  But that’s a side point.  Apparently, no one told Hillary that the race is over because she has ratcheted it up a few hundred notches since Thursday.  What ticked her off?   Allegedly, it was campaign mailers that the Obama campaign has been circulating, regarding Clinton’s position on NAFTA, for almost a month.   At a press conference this past weekend, Clinton accused Obama of Karl Rove (GOP operative accused by democrats of dirty tricks campaigning) tactics as well as attempted to scold Obama by saying ”shame on you Barack Obama.”  Senator Clinton also mocked Obama’s unity message this weekend in an effort to discredit the Illinois Senator with Texas and Ohio voters.  Many opined that Clinton sounds more schoolmarmish than presidential.  Besides the obvious point that this new tone will certainly not attract the white men that have migrated away from her candidacy in droves.  This different version of negative campaigning is also not positioning her as the candidate able to bring both parties together to move Washington beyond the party gridlock of the last eight years.  Instead, it seems to reinforce the polarities of her candidacy.  Is sarcasm the best weapon available in the Clinton arsenal?  If so, perhaps it is time to make a graceful exit.  Further, what is that saying about the supporters who have embraced Obama’s message, should they be mocked as well?  In which candidate playbook does it say that you gain votes by insulting voters? Nothing like the demonization of hope and unity that sends me running towards a candidate.  One last question, is Hillary Clinton the only person in the United States that is aware of the realities of Washington?  And, if Hillary is the only person, now would be a good time to apply some of that awareness to the strategies and management of the Clinton campaign.   In addition to the new tone, the Clinton campaign is being charged with attempting to smear Obama by circulating pictures of the Illinois Senator donning traditional Somali garb while visiting Africa.  This is something that most dignitaries do, including Hillary, while visiting other countries to show respect for the culture.  When asked why the Clinton campaign released the photos, the campaign did not deny circulating the photos but flipped the script and gave the nonresponsive “we will not be distracted” answer.  Many think that this calls into question the judgment of the Clinton campaign as to why they think this would be an effective campaign strategy.  I am at a lost as to why the Clinton campaign would push to circulate such photos.  Is this show and tell day and the Clinton’s are sharing how Obama spent his summer vacation?  Or, is there a more sinister karlrovian tactic at play here?  Clinton tells Obama “shame on you,” yet resorts to what most have described as the divisive, fear mongering, campaign tactics of the past.  So as a final go-for-broke strategy, Hillary Clinton has decided to go karlrovian, aggressively negative, with a big dose of sarcasm, and whatever else that sticks.   At this point, the schizophrenic nature of the Clinton campaign strategies are giving me whiplash.  However, the latest has sold me.  The New York Senator’s final posture taken this past weekend went something like this;  enough of the speeches….enough of the big rallies…enough of the popularity of his message…..enough with the optimism……just knock it off, “get real,” and vote for me unless you want a couple of knuckle swats with my ruler.  Hmmm………the corporal punishment strategy…..works for me!  Yes maam!  Sign me up IMMEDIATELY!                                                  Debate tonight on MSNBC @ 9pm ET

The debate turned out to be a very polite conversation about the issues.  Both candidates pointed out the differences between their respective platforms in a very nonconfrontational way.  Both were able to give great detail about their policy on health care, the Iraq war, and immigration,  just to name a few.  Those tuning in to see fireworks were sorely disappointed.  I am sure that the pundits will pick and analyze every gesture to try and find hidden meanings.  However, for me, it was truly a historical moment.  For the first time in history, we had an african-american and a woman sharing the stage as the only two remaining candidates vying for the democratic nomination.  Progress!

Tonight, Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton have their final contest before Super Tuesday.  This will be the first debate with just the two candidates.  The debate will air tonight at 8pm eastern standard time on CNN.  Wolf Blitzer will be moderating.  Both candidates have a lot at stake in this final contest before the ultimate contest on Super Tuesday.  To become the democratic nominee, the magic number of delegates needed is 2025.  A whopping 1700 of those delegates will be at stake on Tuesday.  Voters in 24 states will be able to speak loud and clear as to who they want to move on to be the democratic and republican nominee.  The debate will be held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. 

John McCain takes Florida and is awarded a whopping 57 delegates!  This has been a pivotal race for all of the republican candidates due to the significant amount of delegates at stake.  Before the Florida primary, the total delegates for each candidate were: Romney 59, Huckabee 40, McCain 36, Paul 4, and Giuliani 1.  With the Florida win, McCain now has a total of 97 delegates. This is also a big win for McCain for other reasons.  Because McCain’s campaign is reported to be running on fumes, this win will provide enormous fundraising potential for the candidate.  Now that McCain has demonstrated that he can win a closed republican primary, as opposed to an open primary where republicans and independents are permitted to vote, republicans are a bit more convinced about his candidacy.  This will provide a much needed boost for McCain into Super Tuesday.  However, the republican race is far from over.  Because it was such a close race, Romney will most likely continue through Super Tuesday.  Both candidates are preparing for the California debate, which is the final debate before Super Tuesday.

Is it me or were the Rupublicans salivating at the prospect of running against Hillary Clinton?   The republican candidates mentioned Clinton’s name several times as though she were already the democratic nominee.  Do you think this is a strategy on the part of the republicans.  All the candidates were eerily civil to  each other last night.  During the democratic debate, the democrats, unwittingly pushed McCain to frontrunner status by invoking his name as a fete accompli for the general election. Did the republicans intentionally do the same?  The candidates last night were very jovial and and very polite. I felt like I was on the 19th hole of the golf course rather than a presidential debate.  It’s almost like they agreed before-hand that they were going to do the exact opposite of the democrats.  Are they trying to lull the democrats into a false sense of security?  Do they continue to invoke Clinton’s name as the nominee because she is the easiest person to beat?  Most of the pundits speculate that Clinton is the most polarizing of all the democratic candidates and the candidate most likely to galvanize the republican base.   Are the republicans in fact simply trying to increase the possibility of extending their stay in the White House?  Something to think about….