Top Items:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Joe: Obama's ‘tap dance almost as good as Sammy Davis, Jr.’ — Katie gets the first interview with Joe Wurzelbacher and, like everyone else in America, he talks like a pundit. — “McCain was solid in his performance,” he says. “I still don't know where he stands,” he says of Obama.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
The Joe file — Two readers with access to the Ohio voter file say that Joe Wurzelbacher's inluence on this cycle will be limited in one way: He doesn't appear to be registered to vote. — (And yes, the freelance opposition research on Joe began before the debate ended.)
Discussion:
A Blog For All, Daily Kos, CBS News, The Campaign Spot, Sister Toldjah, Firedoglake, Whiskey Fire, Buck Naked Politics and Cogitamus
Toledo Blade:
‘Joe the Plumber’ is focus of presidential debate's first few minutes — The story of “Joe the Plumber” - Joe Wurzelbacher of Shrewsbury Street in Springfield Township - became a centerpiece of the early minutes of the presidential debate last night. — And Joe the Plumber became the subject of national and international interest.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, Think Progress, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, HorsesAss.Org and TPMCafe
Teddy Davis / Political Radar:
Joe The Plumber: Obama Tax Plan ‘Infuriates Me’ — ABC News' Teddy Davis and Hope Ditto Report: — John McCain may have found a blue-collar face to help him argue that no American — not even the richest 5 percent — should pay higher taxes. — “Joe The Plumber” has weighed …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Joe's registration — Joe Wurzelbacher doesn't immediately turn up in the Ohio voter registration database, leading to some speculation last night that he's not registered to vote. — But the Toledo Blade reports that he appears to be a registered Republican, and a primary voter at that:
FactCheck.org:
FactChecking Debate No. 3 — Sorting out fact and fiction in the presidential candidates' final debate. — Spin and hype were apparent, once again, at the third and final debate between McCain and Obama: — McCain claimed the liberal group ACORN “is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating …
Gateway Pundit:
Joe the Plumber Weighs in on Debate: “Obama's Proposal Scares Me Because It's Just One More Step Towards Socialism” — Oops!... He did it again. — Joe brings up that darned “socialism” word again. — Joe Wurzelbacher, “Joe the Plumber”, of Toledo, Ohio weighs in on the final presidential debate last night.
Dean Baker / American Prospect:
Joe the Plumber's Big Tax Bill — Much of last night's presidential debate centered on “Joe the Plumber,” Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber who Barack Obama met while campaigning in Ohio. According to the New York Times, Mr. Wurzelbacher says that he is planning to buy a plumbing business …
Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
CBS Poll: Uncommitted Voters Say Obama Won Final Debate — As in the previous debates, CBS News and Knowledge Networks have conducted a nationally representative poll of uncommitted voters to get their immediate reaction to tonight's presidential debate. — In the first presidential debate …
Discussion:
CNN, The Huffington Post, The Gun Toting Liberal, Daily Kos, Open Left, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Reaction, Climate Progress, Comments from Left Field, The Anonymous Liberal, Sister Toldjah, Christian Science Monitor, Political Machine, The Sideshow, Outside The Beltway, Politics in the Zeros …, FiveThirtyEight.com, PoliBlog (TM), The Jed Report, The Swamp, Oliver Willis, TPM Election Central, Washington Post, Raising Kaine, Taylor Marsh, Democracy in America and TalkLeft
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Time Edit / Swampland:
Undecideds Laughing At, Not With, McCain — From TIME's Amy Sullivan: — In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver …
CNN:
Poll: Debate watchers say Obama wins — HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) — A majority of debate watchers thought that Sen. Barack Obama won the third and final presidential debate, according to a national poll conducted at the end of the debate. — Fifty-eight percent of debate watchers questioned …
Amz / Democracy Corps:
Third Presidential Debate: McCain Digs Himself a Deeper Hole
Third Presidential Debate: McCain Digs Himself a Deeper Hole
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
DEBATE POLLS.... Everyone who watched last night's debate came …
DEBATE POLLS.... Everyone who watched last night's debate came …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Complete final debate transcript: John McCain and Barack Obama — Here is the complete transcript of the third and final presidential debate between Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois at Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y. Oct. 15, 2008.
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Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Obama Hasn't Closed the Sale — Both candidates continue to tinker with their strategies. — In the campaign's final two weeks, voters will take a last serious look at both presidential candidates. The outcome of the race isn't cast in stone yet. — Barack Obama holds a 7.3% lead …
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Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Obama Invokes Granite State Lessons — Senator Barack Obama offered fresh words of wisdom today for any of his supporters who are feeling overly confident with the presidential race: New Hampshire. — “For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky or think this is all set …
Discussion:
TIME.com
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Face Of The Day — US Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) reacts to almost heading the wrong way off the stage after shaking hands with Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) at the conclusion of the final presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, October 15, 2008.
Discussion:
Harry's Place
Mark Steyn / The Corner:
The Good Old Days — One thing I liked about the Bush/Gore debates is that it was obvious both men loathed each other and they didn't care who knew it. That liberated them, for good and ill. — By contrast, for all the characteristically ponderous huffing from Bob Schieffer about …
Discussion:
Commentary
Peter Schiff / Washington Post:
Don't Blame Capitalism — Amid the chaos of recent days, as the federal government has taken gargantuan steps to stabilize the financial markets, realigning the U.S. economic system in the process, comes a nearly universal consensus: This crisis resulted from government reluctance to regulate the unbridled greed of Wall Street.
Discussion:
The Corner
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Virginia GOP Mailer Depicts Dems — And Obama? — As Appeasers Of Terrorists — In the race's final stretch, much of the real sludge and slime that floats to the surface will be the work not of the campaigns but of under-the-radar operations run by state parties and the like.
Mark Halperin / Time:
Grading the Final Presidential Debate — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama speaks during the third presidential debate with Republican candidate John McCain at Hofstra University October 15, 2008 — Substance: — Intelligent, knowledgeable, and an earnest explainer, as always, but to no real effect.