No Game Changer

McCain needed a knock out punch during the debate tonight just to get back in the game and he didn't get it. According to a CNN focus group who watched the debate live, while McCain won the first 30 minutes, he lost the last hour as he got testier and testier (his temperament has long been a stumbling block for him). There in lies one of McCain's fundamental problems--he's just not likable. A CNN post-debate telephone poll with viewers who watch the debate rated McCain's likability as only 22%. And this is big trouble for McCain who trails in the polls in a number of key states. Not only isn't he likable, the average voter just isn't connecting with him.

The average voter just can't connect with a man who has 7+ houses (actually doesn't know how many he has) and at least as many cars. McCain hasn't spent a day in his life wondering how to pay his many mortgages; worrying about how he's going to pay a hospital bill if he get's sick (he's been covered by Federal health insurance for most of his adult life--first in the Navy and later as a 20 year veteran of Congress); wondering if he should pay the electric bill, water bill or phone bill this month; or how he's going to pay for his childrens' education.

McCain's biggest problem is he's out of touch and he did nothing tonight to portray himself otherwise. We've got 19 days until the election and a lot can happen in that time. But, for the moment, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Glass Houses

Hmmm ... The Republicans would never do something so dastardly as play the gender card over the coverage their new VP candidate is getting would they? After all, didn't they mock Hillary for complaining about the media coverage during the primary? I believe Sarah Palin herself even said that Hillary needs to quit whining and just "work harder" to prove she's good enough.




In case the embedded video won't play properly for you, here's the direct link: it's too good too miss: Daily Show Sarah Palin Qualifications

Gosh the GOP would never indulge in hypocrisy would they?

Some more lessons from Republicans now that Palin is their new candidate:

• If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless." A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."

• If you say that for the "first time in my adult lifetime I'm really proud of my country" it makes you "unfit" to be First Lady. If your husband has been an active and registered member of a fringe political group that advocates Alaska seceding from the United States, then he's perfectly qualified to be the "Second Dude" because you can tell he only joined the group because he's really proud of his country.

• If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic." Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you're the quintessential "American story." (Hey I have moose burgers every Friday night, don't you?)

• Teaching about birth control in schools is wrong because it only encourages teenagers to have sex. Teaching about abstinence will stop teen pregnancy completely because no teenager will ever have sex if we teach that. In fact, we should cut the funds allotted in the Alaskan state budget (and all of the rest of the states while we're at it) to support unwed teenage mothers because they all have wealthy families who will take care of them.

I'm sure the Republicans will have some more important lessons for us in the coming weeks that they will dispense from their beautiful glass houses.

(Special thanks to Heidi for her email this afternoon and Elisa for the video hookup)