Why not. All the cool kids are.

9:05: How do you fix the economy? Obama: Blah blah blah, but here are the points I’d like to make. McCain: Blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah, I’d buy up bad mortgages, blah blah America working again blah blah blah blah.

9:08: How’s the bailout help? McCain: Not “bailout”, “rescue”. I suspended my campaign! [Good idea bringing that up again.] Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are evil! And it’s Obama’s fault “and his cronies”! [Rick Davis’s company getting paid as a consultant for Fannie Mae up until last month, also a great idea.] Obama: Here’s the actual answer to the actual question you asked. And now pardon me while I attack McCain.

I want a more consistent camera on McCain. I really wanna see that vein on his next start pulsing. Can see that smile, though.

Obama goes back to answering the actual question.

9:16: Economy, worse or better? Obama: confident. Need leadership. Help people. Change washington. What, no attack? McCain: Stabilize the market. Buy up bad mortgages. [Is that all he got? The problems so much bigger than that.] Ooh, he put “the workers” and “fundamental” in the same sentence, clearly that was one of his bullet points.

9:18: How can we trust either of you? Obama: Folksy sentences. Bush sucks. [Ooh! Neat moment where Obama looks back and McCain and McCain turns away with that smile. didn’t they get his eye contact thing worked out?] Blah blah campaign talking points. McCain: [I’m sure this is just me but man would I not want McCain getting up that close to me.] I’m a reformer! Bipartisanship! Obama sucks! We need reform, let’s look at my record! [sure, let’s.] Obama sucks, I am a reformer, Obama sucks, look at our records, Obama sucks like I said before, middle America needs help and oh yeah energy independence has to figure into it too, I know how to fix all this stuff. [and make me president and I’ll finally do it instead of slacking the last three decades I was in Congress?]

9:23: McCain: HAHH? Whaaa? Repeat that sonny? Well whatever, I say it’s all important. Bipartisan, Reagan, etc. [Huh, he said Reagan and O’Neill, I just heard that from Cindy McCain today. Guess they all ge tthe same memos.] Stop sending money overseas. Obama: Energy first [I think?] blah blah. Health care second. [okay yeah, again he’s actually answering the question?] Education third. McCain suck- oh wait he’s not actually saying that. Fooled me. We do actually have to look at earmarks but there’s more here.

9:27: Brokaw: WHY WON’T YOU FOLLOW THE RULES. THEY’RE YOU’RE RULES DAMNIT. What sacrifices will you ask Americans to make? McCain: We’re going to have to sacrifice government. [Until it’s small enough to drown in a bathtub, I suppose.] Earmarks! OH EARMARKS MAKE ME SO MAD! Really who the fuck believes Obama asked for a three million dollar overhead projector. Spending freeze in government. Earmarks bad, government bad, I’m a reformer. “We’re not rifle shots here”? Obama: a bit frustrated? oh no he has to walk gently into 9/11. Bush said “go out and shop”. energy: we need to get more! but we need to get everyone to change things. [He’s only barely answering the question.] Double the peace corps…not quite the “what sacrifices will we make” but at least it’s nearby.

9:33: Break the habit of too much debt? ugh, softball answer for any politician, this one. I’ll go pee while they wind this one up.

Oh I got back just in time to hear McCain get pissy. Haw haw jello to the wall. Didn’t someone tell McCain that it’d be a bad idea to talk about jello?

Whoa he actually addressed Obama directly.

9:37: Congress: medicare/social security? Obama: Yes a lot to do, but in the first two years, not likely. Let me take this over for my tax response. Blah blah details anyone who reads three consecutive words would know by now. McCain sucks. [McCain: SCRIBBLE SCRIBBLE SMILLLE SCRIBBLE SMIIILLLE SMILLLE I CAN PUSH THIS YOUNG UPSTART TO THE GROUND WITH THE POWER OF MY SMIIIILE.] McCain: I’ll actually answer the question ah heh heh! [my head about explodes at the hypocrisy again]. Reagan, O’Neill. You’re all my friends, my friends. I’m a maverick reformer. Again with the taxes: Obama sucks. He sucks. My friends. I’m a fighter for you. Our best days are ahead of us! [the sun’ll come ouuuut, to-morr-owww]

9:43: Environment. McCain: Bush sucks. My friends. Obama says whatever the fuck. Obama sucks. We can do things! green technologies! we can do it! electric cars! we can do that! americans are great! Obama: Creating environmental jobs can improve our economy and move it along the same way the computer moved our economy along. [again, wht the hell does he think he’s doing answering the question?] McCain sucks. He voted X times against issue Y [I pretty much always tune out the “voted against” arguments, they’re so easily slanted either way.] Drilling is not the full answer.

Both of them have been told to smile.

9:47: Brokaw: Come onnnn guys watch the lighhhts to tell you how lonnng you can tallllk! McCain: “You know who voted for them? [gesture] That one.” My friends, Obama sucks, my friends.

9:50: should healthcare be a commodity? Obama: Healthcare cost sucks. We’ll reduce costs working with your employer. [great thanks there dude, keep us tied to our employer.] McCain’s plan sucks. [I like that he wraps up with “that’s what I’d do” rather than “and AMERICA is GREAT!” but then I guess I’m in his base.] McCain: Healthcare costs suck. Obama’s plan, much like government, sucks. [Why does he want to be president if government sucks so bad?] Everyone gets $5K under my plan. It actually works out to more money. Ha ha I might need hair plugs.

I noticed the lights this time. Maybe Brokaw has something, he went way the fuck over.

Healthcare blah, I was busy hooking up my laptop power cord. McCain looks more relaxed now, I wonder i fhe was expecting more of a fight. Come to think of it, I was expecting him to be a lot more belligerent.

Heh, I guess Obama went way the fuck over too, Brokaw’s getting feisty.

9:58: Economy affects our militarism how? McCain: History tells us that countries with a strong military [he’s not going to end this sentence the way I would] has to have a strong economy. America rocks. we need someone with good, sound judgement. [Sound enough, presumably, to talk about kicking Russia out of NATO.] I rock. My record rocks. Obama sucks. Obama’s wrong. My friends. Obama: Iraq war sucks. McCain sucks. McCain’s judgement sucks. Our spending sucks. Iraq’s surplus. [Ooh! and then it turns out he finishes that sentence how I would have!] Actually answering the question? stuff like Darfur we can’t get involved in. McCain sucks.

10:04: Obama: moral obligation in our world, but American power has limits. [Huh.] Darfur sucks. Our response to Darfur sucks. McCain: My friends, Obama sucks. Obama wanted to set a date for withdrawal and that all would’ve went wrong my friends. I will bring our troops home in victory, not like Obama, who sucks. “That requires a cool hand at the tiller” [?!?!? how can he possibly get away with that? I know Obama gotta be wishing he could really speak to that.] I’m the right guy. We have to make sure we don’t make the situation worse. [?!?!?!?!?]

10:07: Pakistani sovereignty? Obama: Pakistan kinda sucks-ish. Iraq war sucks. Blah blah [as he goes on: Debb: “I don’t mind people being jokey, but McCain just sounds like he’s throwing it in to sound like he’s one of us.”] McCain: Teddy Roosevelt is my hero and I’m about to mangle a quote from him. [Does McCain’s comments about Obama’s statements on Pakistan have traction with anyone? He hits it like it’s a major point but I don’t get it.]

10:14: Ooh! Ooh ooh! [pointing wildly at screen] Minor candidate revolt! They’re interacting! I was really hoping for this but figured the format wouldn’t allow it. I wanna see more of that because McCain loses whenever he tries to interact.

I am too biased on this point. I wish I knew how Obama and McCain look to independents here. To me Obama continues to look measured and in control while McCain looks the opposite, but I’m not a reliable witness here.

10:18: Avoid a cold war? McCain: No, but Russia has acted the way we don’t expect a nation in the modern world to act. [christ these people have no self-awareness.] Russia has to understand there are penalties for such aggressive behavior. [cough cough hack ahem] Russia has to understand these kind of activities are unacceptable. [cough puke wheeze] Obama: we need to help nations with more than moral support. We have to look more forward than be reactive. McCain + Bush suck. Also, energy independence.

10:23: Russia an evil empire, yes or no? Obama: many words, generally no-ish. McCain: “Maybe.” But actually more words than Obama.

10:25: Israel: great ally, or the greatest ally? McCain: glad-hand the vet. Don’t wait for the national security council if Israel had a problem. “If you were Israel, what would you do if a foreign president said you should be wiped off the map?” [I dunno, why not let them work it out?] Obama: Thanks for your service. Israel is the bestest pal ever. Avoids the question as to whether we would wait for the security council to get its shit together before we did anything. Says we should deal with stuff before the council even gets into the picture. Bush sucks.

10:29: What don’t you know and how will you learn it? Obama: My wife can tell ya! But I can forget the question and tell you what I do know: I rock. This is my chance to wrap up, clearly. And we need to fix this crazy thing we call America. McCain: [will he say “my friends” before I get a chance to finish typing this sentence? huh, no.] What we don’t know is what we don’t know. [I think? I have been mostly typing and I can’t look away from a keyboard while I do, but I can see what bob said in comments: he’s shuffling around like he’s already wearing the hospital gown, isn’t he.] I know what it’s like. I know what it’s like. Times are tough. We need a steady hand at the tiller. [?!?!?!? holy fuck this is his big wrapup punchline, my head’s already exploded and I only have the one I can explode]

Eh. I’m still hoping here is some way Obama can drive him over the edge in a live forum. And I’ve just noticed…having Laura Bush stare at you is kinda a scary thing; Cindy McCain would be scary in her way, too.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 8:09 pm and is filed under Political Blather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.