Top Items:
Stephen Green / Pajamas Media:
Drunkblogging Tonight's McCain-Obama Bout — In the blue corner, it's Barack Obama. In the red corner, it's John McCain. Ready to document the blows with a martini in hand, it's Vodkapundit's Stephen Green. — 7:06PM “Let the markets run wild and prosperity will rain down on all of us.”
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Michelle Malkin:
Liveblogging the town hall debate: Zzzzzzzz — I don't have any prizes to give away, but you get Special MM.com Bonus Points if your insipid question suggestion gets asked tonight. — As for drinking game proposals, I recommend taking a swig every time Tom Brokaw inserts his two cents after the citizens ask their questions.
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Debate Live-Blog and Chat! — The second John McCain/Barack Obama presidential debate will start at 9 PM ET, and Hot Air will be at the forefront of instant commentary! I'm using the Cover It Live system again tonight, but I'm combining it with the Ustream chat room from my show.
David Talbot / Salon:
The Palins' un-American activities — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, at a rally in Vienna, Ohio, on Sept. 16, 2008. — “My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand.” — This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right?
Discussion:
Washington Wire, AMERICAblog News, Reason, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Taylor Marsh, Buck Naked Politics, JammieWearingFool, folo and The Jed Report
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Marc Ambinder:
Live Blogging: Third Half Hour — 10:29: Here's a YouTube of “That One.” — 10:24: McCain uses question about whether US would defend Israel military if Iran attacks to bring up “without preconditions” vow, but McCain does not answer question...neither does Obama...smart of them both not to answer this question.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Not really a town hall — I wrote earlier that this would likely be an empathy contest, but between the odd rules, the candidates, and the visibly displeased moderator, that's not really happening. The questions are basically impersonal, and the questioners then disappear.
Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
CBS Poll: Uncommitted Voters Say Obama Won Debate — UPDATED CBS News and Knowledge Networks have, once again, conducted a nationally representative poll of uncommitted voters to get their immediate reaction to tonight's presidential debate. — And this new poll has good news for the Democratic ticket …
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
The Second Presidential Debate — Tonight's debate wasn't even close. Sen. Barack Obama ran away with it — particularly when speaking about the economy and health care. Talking about his mother's death from cancer was very powerful. On nearly every issue, Obama was more substantive …
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, The Opinionator, TIME.com, Matt Ortega, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Real Clear Politics and The Mahablog
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Live-Blogging Nashville — 10.33 pm. This was, I think, a mauling: a devastating and possibly electorally fatal debate for McCain. Even on Russia, he sounded a little out of it. I've watched a lot of debates and participated in many. I love debate and was trained as a boy in the British system to be a debater.
Discussion:
Wonkette
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Live-blogging the big “town hall” debate. — 6:14 Central Time: I'm just setting up the post so you'll know I'm doing this again. — 8:11: After they blame each other for the financial crisis, Obama tells us we don't want to hear them blaming each other. We just want to know how to stay in our homes and pay our bills.
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Ann Althouse / Althouse:
[I doubt that] Obama wore an earpiece that was clearly visible on HDTV.
[I doubt that] Obama wore an earpiece that was clearly visible on HDTV.
Discussion:
The Anchoress
CNN:
Transcript of second McCain, Obama debate — NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) — Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama debated in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday night. NBC's Tom Brokaw moderated the debate. Here is a transcript of that debate. — Brokaw: Good evening from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Andy McCarthy / The Corner:
You Guys Are Nuts — We have a disaster here — which is what you should expect when you delegate a non-conservative to make the conservative (nay, the American) case. We can parse it eight ways to Sunday, but I think the commentary is missing the big picture.
Kate Howard / Tennessean.com:
Cindy McCain makes appearance at Children's Hospital — Cindy McCain said today that she expects her husband to clear the record at tonight's debate and let America know where he truly stands. — McCain, who stopped to visit a half-dozen children at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital …
Discussion:
MyDD
Oskar Garcia / Associated Press:
ACORN office in Vegas raided in voter-fraud probe — LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada state authorities are raiding the Las Vegas headquarters of an organization that works to get low-income people to vote. — A Nevada secretary of state's office spokesman said Tuesday that investigators are looking …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Hullabaloo, The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, The Raw Story, Townhall.com, TPMMuckraker, www.redstate.com, NO QUARTER and Riehl World View
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Advisers worry about ‘grumpy McCain’ — When Politico's Ryan Grim approached Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after the evening of the Senate bailout vote, the reporter didn't even get his question out. — “Excuse me, you're bothering me,” McCain said. — It was a surprising rebuke …
Discussion:
The Opinionator, Don Surber, DownWithTyranny!, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Grasping Reality … and TIME.com
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
ROUND TWO DEBATE BLOGGING #2 — 9:29 PM ... Except for defense, veterans affairs and “some other vital programs”. Wow, that's pretty air tight. — 9:30 PM ... This debate's so boring I don't even know what to tell the staff to upload to youtube. — 9:33 PM ... $20 for whoever can grab John McCain's notepad and let me see it.
Discussion:
Ta-Nehisi Coates
CNN:
Records: Ayers, Obama crossed paths on boards — CNN Special Investigations Unit — CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — More than 30 years ago, William Ayers was a fugitive leader of the Weather Underground, an antiwar terrorist group known for its bombings of police stations, the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol.
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Mark Silva / The Swamp:
William Ayers' past was unknown: Obama
William Ayers' past was unknown: Obama
Discussion:
Political Machine, Washington Post, Commentary, www.redstate.com, TIME.com, Townhall.com and Wake up America
Gallup:
Gallup Daily: 9-Point Obama Lead Ties Campaign High — Voters prefer Obama to McCain by 51% to 42% — PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking poll shows registered voters preferring Barack Obama to John McCain for president by 51% to 42%. — The nine percentage point lead …
Sara Goo / Washington Post:
After Bailout, AIG Executives Head to Resort — Less than a week after the federal government offered an $85 billion bailout to insurance giant AIG, the company held a week-long retreat for its executives at the luxury St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif., running up a tab of $440,000 …
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Obama Outspending McCain Nearly 3 to 1 on Television — Barack Obama is outspending John McCain at nearly a three-to-one clip on television time in the final weeks of the presidential election, according to ad buy information obtained by The Fix, a financial edge that is almost certainly contributing …
The Politico:
McCain proposes bailout for homeowners — Here are details of the plan Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced during Tuesday night's presidential debate “to keep families in their homes, avoid foreclosures, save failing neighborhoods, stabilize the housing market and attack the roots of our financial crisis”:
Garance Franke-Ruta / Washington Post:
Obama Team Ready for Mud — Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs in St. Paul, Minn. (Jim Mone/Associated Press) — NASHVILLE — Barack Obama's advisers are usually cautious about managing expectations — never predicting a landslide, always downplaying how well their candidate will do in the debates.
Associated Press:
Obama wishes he had more time for staying fit — NEW YORK (AP) — Barack Obama says he wishes he had more time for staying fit. And the Democratic presidential candidate admits that he still occasionally smokes a cigarette. — “Most of my workouts have to come before my day starts,” …
Julie Bosman / The Caucus:
Palin on the Plane — GREENVILLE, N.C. - After more than a month on the campaign trail, Gov. Sarah Palin has finally taken questions from her traveling press corps. — The very brief press conference occurred on a flight from Pensacola, Fla., to Greenville, N.C., when Ms. Palin walked …
AMERICAN DIGEST:
Let's Face It, the Only Candidate This Year Who Has What It Takes to be President Is... Because she's the only one who is young enough and idealistic enough and man enough for the job.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
THE “HANDSHAKE” THAT WASN'T — You can see our initial comments on this below. And here's the video — make your own judgments ... Late Update: A few readers say the two shook hands right after the conclusion of the debate, at that moment where Brokaw told them they were in the way of his teleprompter.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns and Money
Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:
Luntz's Focus Group — This is purely a methodological question. If the reporting on blacks said they were torn between the candidates I wouldn't be asking this question. But his focus group is allegedly a collection of “swing voters” from Virginia. And it appears there are a relatively large number of blacks in the focus group.
Discussion:
World-O-Crap
Faiz / Think Progress:
U.S. debt grows too big for National Debt Clock. — The National Debt Clock in New York's Times Square — first erected in 1989 when the debt was less than $3 trillion — cannot keep pace with the growing national debt, now at more than $10 trillion. NBC's Brian Williams reported last night that …
Daniel Gross / Slate:
THE RIGHT BLAMES THE CREDIT CRISIS ON POOR MINORITY HOMEOWNERS. THIS IS NOT MERELY OFFENSIVE, BUT ENTIRELY WRONG. — We've now entered a new stage of the financial crisis: the ritual assigning of blame. It began in earnest with Monday's congressional roasting of Lehman Bros. CEO Richard Fuld …