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Politics & ReligionWell Since every damn forum has one. Might as well leave it out there. This place is loosely moderated and should not be entered if you're weak of heart.
I always knead the crap out of the dough at times like these.
Stand clear!
__________________
"In the long run, we are all dead." - J.M. Keynes
"The strongest enemy of tyranny is a long memory." - Phil DeBar
"E Clampus Vitus" - YB1
Actually, seriously, I'm hoping McCain's head explodes tonight. I'm hoping Obama sets him off.
__________________
"In the long run, we are all dead." - J.M. Keynes
"The strongest enemy of tyranny is a long memory." - Phil DeBar
"E Clampus Vitus" - YB1
I'll be watching. It's clear that the McCain camp is trying to bait Obama into appearing "angry." I'm searching for the audio but he made a comment during a speech yesterday I heard on the radio this morning where he asked the crowd, "...why is Mr. Obama so angry?"
I also want to see if the rumors are true. Word has it McCain is going to bring up Rev. Wright and Ayers tonight. I also want to see what McCain's body language. Will he actually look at Obama this time. We'll see.
Here's a quick overview of the format and my take on what the campaigns are looking at:
This is going to be a "town hall" meeting, where the questions will come from members of the audience and people online. Only undecided voters will be able to participate online or be in the audience.
What's worse, all of the questions have to be submitted to the debate organizers in advance (though the candidates will not see them), no deviations from the approved questions will be allowed, and no one - including the moderator - will be able to ask a follow up question. (To make sure that is enforced, the mics in the audience will be killed after the question is asked, and they'll kill the mic of anyone who deviates from the pre-approved question.) For the final crap cherry on top, the candidates will not be able to question each other.
As Josh Marshall at TPM put it this morning, it's more honest if you think of it as two press conferences occurring at the same time. That's what it's going to be. I think it's a disgrace. This is why control of the debates should go back to the League of Women Voters instead of allowing the campaigns to set the agenda that is most favorable to them.
That said, this is still a hugely important event. As Chuck Todd and many others have noted, this is one of the last two times most of the country is going to be focused on the race before election day. McCain is trailing and falling further behind every day. He has to find a way to change the message of this race and get back in control. If he doesn't do it tonight, it probably won't happen and he'll lose the election by more than 150 electoral votes.
McCain has put himself in a world of hurt. He made a grandstand play with the bailout that failed spectacularly, flailed on the economy for a week, and now wants to pretend that it's not a major issue at all. Voters are seeing it a little differently. The economy is the top issue for 55-60% of voters in both the CNN and NBC polls released yesterday. Second place is health care (CNN) and "domestic issues other than the economy" (NBC) at 13-15%, areas where McCain has also done poorly in the last few weeks.
If McCain doesn't find a way to refocus his campaign on these issues and make voters forget his past blunders, independents are going to abandon him and this election is going to be a blowout of historic proportions.
Finally, McCain is flirting with a net unfavorable rating. His attack campaign since the first debate has pushed his favorable/unfavorable rating down to a net +4, which is just outside the margin of error. (He had a +22 favorability during the primary campaign.) McCain has hurt himself with these attacks more than he's damaged Obama, who has gone from +23 to +17 between March and today.
McCain needs to stop the character attacks and give the voters the substance they are demanding. He needs to make a huge mea culpa about his past views on deregulation and lay out a specific plan to fix this mess. Of course if he does that he'll infuriate the GOP base. My money says they're going to keep trying to make this race about Obama and ride this into the ground.
Obama needs to reinforce the competence and command of the issues he showed in the first debate. If he stays sharp and focuses on short, concise answers, I don't think McCain can do anything to change the direction of this race. The prohibition against follow-up questions and questions between the candidates protects McCain, but it also prevents him from inflicting any real damage.
Look, McCain is hopelessly behind and losing more ground every day. His only hope is for Obama to make a MAJOR slip.
Obama is a brilliant guy. I'm sure he is aware of this. I doubt you'll see anything but a confident young man, acting amused at the alte kocker rantings of McCain.
As Josh Marshall at TPM put it this morning, it's more honest if you think of it as two press conferences occurring at the same time. That's what it's going to be. I think it's a disgrace. This is why control of the debates should go back to the League of Women Voters instead of allowing the campaigns to set the agenda that is most favorable to them.
I'm watching it. I find it highly entertaining to watch the faces they make when they think the other one is lying.
I really want to hear what they have to say about whatever they talk about. Should be interesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flylooper
I'll probably make some french bread.
I always knead the crap out of the dough at times like these.
Stand clear!
Stress relief? I have a cuisinart bread maker, so I don't usually kneed the dough. But for making homemade cinnamon rolls, I have to work with it a lot more. Perhaps tonight is a good night for making that.
Second Presidential Debate Thread
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