final debate

Daily Kos: Post debate thoughts: On substance, I actually thought McCain had his best performance thus far yes, when not distracting with his weird facial expressions and snorting. But still, Obama is on another level altogether. Perhaps if Romney or Giuliani was the nominee these would be fairer contests, but it's not even close. And while McCain seemed better prepared than in the previous debates, tonight was also the wingnuttiest McCain has looked all campaign. huh. is that bcs his aim was to show Obama as liberal? big spending, tax raising, anti trade (Colombia). All the veneer of being a moderate was stripped away as he derisively tossed aside the notion of "health of the mother". The notion was a insult to his sensibilities!
Not that it matters. There was nothing here tonight that would change minds. Given that Obama has already broken 50 percent nationally and in the key battleground states, and that significant percentage of voters have already cast their early votes, McCain needed to radically transform the shape of the race. That means a homerun performance coupled with an Obama collapse. Neither happened. I'll let the snap polls determine who "won" the debate, but no matter what they proclaim, this race is pretty much over.
Permalink :: Discuss (514 comments)

Look at McCain's "Deer in Headlights" moment: Permalink [youtube vid of Obama addressing Joe: your fine will be zero. McCain: zero? I think McCain meant to convey derision here, mocking astonishment at what Obama was saying (not that he was simply taken aback at the answer, that he was wrong), right? and he then tried to reply by saying that since Joe wants to buy the company he works for, that would put him in the big business category -did I follow McCain correctly here? that would not be exempt from Obama's 'fine' - in Obama's words, from contributing to a kitty that covers the uninsured, so that taxpayers don't have to.]

kos- Snap Polls: CBS and CNN -- Obama wins big Permalink ::Discuss (466 comments)
CBS poll of undecided voters: Who won the debate? McCain (R) 22 Obama (D) 53
Shares your values: Obama, Before the debate: 54 Obama, After the debate: 63
McCain, Before the debate: 53 McCain, After the debate: 56
CNN poll of voters who watched debate: Who won the debate? McCain (R) 31 Obama (D) 58
Favorable/Unfavorable Obama, before debate: 63/35 Obama, after debate: 66/33
McCain, before debate: 51/45 McCain, after debate: 49/49
McCain LOST popularity.

asllvn- The First Poll Permalink CBS unsurprisingly gives it to Obama by a big 53 - 22 percent margin. McCain made some headway on taxes, but this is brutal:
Before the debate, 54 percent thought Obama shared their values. That percentage rose to 63 percent after the debate. For McCain, 53 percent thought he shared their values before the debate, and 56 percent thought so afterwards.

kos- CNN poll, broken down Permalink :: Discuss (292 comments)
So the CNN pundits kept harping on the fact that their snap poll gave Dems a 10-point sample advantage, thus supposedly rendering it less accurate. Well, now they've broken it down:
Who did the best job in the debate?
Independents: McCain (R) 31 Obama (D) 57
Republicans: McCain (R) 68 Obama (D) 18
Democrats: McCain (R) 5 Obama (D) 88
Look how poorly McCain did with Republicans, compared to Democrats and Obama. And of course, Independents LOVED Obama.

asllvn- CNN Too Permalink
Another very clear victory for Obama: 58 to 31 percent.

kos- No one gives a crap about Ayers Permalink :: Discuss (193 comments)
CNN poll: Obama's connection to William Ayers matters to you...
Not At All 51 Not Much 11 Somewhat 14 Great Deal 23
So let's see, the crazy NRO set is about 23 percent of the country, which also --by the way-- is the number of people who still think President Bush is doing a kick-ass job. Everyone else has other, more important things to worry about.