Thursday, October 02, 2008

Live Blogging Follow-Up

First, can I just say that Live Blogging the debate was yet again a ton of fun tonight... if you missed it, we'll try it again at the next debate. In comments during the live blogging I mentioned a 1-doggie survey regarding Sarah Palin's ability to inspire sleepiness. Evidence of her ability to put dogs down is below. Thanks to Kim's lovable cutie pie Zoey for being our test subject and spokesmodel for this survey.

Live Bloggery on the Internets

8:55: Just testing out how this works since I've never done this funky live blogging thingy before. I like the timer feature that all the cable news networks seem to have. makes it feel like New Years Eve.
9:00 Washington University in St. Louis always strikes me as an overly long name.
9:02: I wonder if the fact that the moderator wrote a supposedly pro-Obama book will come up tonight?
9:06 McCain was a champion of greater government oversight? I don't know much about that, but it seems a little unlikely. I don't mean that as an insult, either.
9:08 I love how they talk up anti-partisan creds while attacking the other side.
9:10 from the comments: "WOAH! Sarah Palin just winked at all of us! Holy crap... uh, I dunno what to do." Personally, I find her very likable. She should sell soap.
9:11 And Biden could probably sell ties. I like his.
9:13 From Comments: Holy crap. She said "Joe Sixpack" and the CNN line for undecided men went apeshit! It literally went backwards.
9:15
Obama NEVER voted to raise taxes on people making $42k! That's just unfair. And does anyone actually think the next president will lower taxes?
9:17 Lowering taxes on the middle class is redistributing wealth?
9:19 Doesn't Biden have hair plugs? they don't seem to work all that well. I want the name of the place so I can avoid them.
9:23 Another Comment:
YES! BIDEN, ZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ULTIMATE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE!

Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
9:23
She took on the oil companies? I bet she dropped them like a rabid moose.
9:26
Normally, the idea of taxing a company for making too much profit would scare me, but it is true that oil companies get really sweet tax treatment. Almost as if they know the people who write the tax laws...
9:27 NO! Let go of the damn "Main Street and Wall Street" thing.

9:29
Great Comment: did she REALLY just say "i haven't made any promises i can't keep b/c i've only been around for 5 weeks" ?!?!?!

That has got to be the worst answer ever. "I haven't had a chance to lie yet, but just you wait."
9: 31 "attribute every activity of man to changes in the climate." WTF?
9:36
I much admire Biden's comments on same-sex benefits. I'd still rather see marriage equality, but progress is progress.
9:38 Palin: "I have gay friends. Really."
9:39 why not just define marriage as one man and one woman of the same race? There's an argument that that is the traditional definition.
9:42 Iraq? What's that? Apparently not a big deal in Ohio.
9:43 Biden's son heads off to Iraq tomorrow. I don't think that he wants to waive the white flag.
9:44 My mom, who is a Republican, is yelling at Sarah Palin.
9:47 Again, comparing Petraeus and al Qaeda?!?!???!?!
9:49 I still don't think that meeting with foreign leaders is naive. I like the way she pronounces "naivete" though.
9:51 From Comments:
Eeeee when Sarah Palin says, "Stinking corpse" it gives me the heeby geebys. However, when she says, "The Castro Brothers" I somehow think she's talking about some sort of Disney Channel boy band.

And


I heard the Castro Brothers play a gig in Altanta. They were pretty good.

9:53 It drives me nuts when politicians refer to themselves in the 3rd person. Bob Dole don't like this.

9:55 "Joe Biden is FUCKING dynamic when he refers to himself as Joe Biden... third person always kicks ass. Kim agrees, our only critique is that he should have said, "Israel has no better friend than Joe Motha F**ing Biden!""
That actually woulda been cool. I stand corrected.
9:56 "Nuclear weaponry would be the be all end all of too many people..." what did she just say?
9:58 Mamma Venice: Sarah Palin should play herself on Saturday Night Live.
10:01 Biden is truly strong on foreign affairs. This is like me playing golf with Tiger Woods. Except cheaper. And without those funny shirts.
10:03 You big city Washington types. I'm just from a small town and so I'm a real American. I don't go in for none of this fancy policy talk. I just want to put a moose in every pot.
10:05 'DIDN'T SHE DO THE SAME DAMN THING on the bridge?!!?!!??!?"

Yes, but she's NOT FROM WASHINGTON. so it's OK.
10:09 Look at how the CNN happy lines fall as soon as she starts talking. Maybe he should have met her more than once before selecting her to be his running mate.
10:11 I think she means that if she's vice president, people on Wall Street will start volunteering at soup kitchens and feeding stray kittens.
10:13 the Home Depot line is my least favourite of his so far.
10:14 Dude, if she's vice-president they better not give her more power...
10:16 Total non-answer in my opinion. Too bad, since the vice-president's proper role is kind of a big question if you are, you know, the vice-president.
10:18 From Comments:Sarah Palin wants to drill into the position of Vice President! She wants to tap all of it's potential for domestic homeland energy independence. Drill Baby Drill!!!!
10:21 Biden's tale of raising his children is enormously powerful. I didn't watch the happy lines, but I hope they reflected that. I think he really DID get choked up.
10:28 "Obama wants to kill jobs." Can't you just see him sitting around, saying to himself, how can I kill some jobs? I want people to be out of work and miserable!
10:30 Why don't the Republicans just get a blow-up Reagan doll and nominate it?
10:33 I love Biden. I can't deny it.
10:34 From Comments: Sarah Palin won because her head didn't explode!!!!!

That may be true. I don't think she was great but she wasn't as bad as she could have been. Given the low expectations, that may have been enough.
10:38
This guy talking on CNN has a great mustache. What's it made of?
10:39 Alright, this was super grovilicious. I really enjoyed all the comments. I look forward to doing this again, hopefully with a less one-sided debate.

"Life Isn't Fair!" The State of the GOP

Wonkette broke new ground today by simply repeating the real-world news headline their tipster sent from CNN as their own comedy news headline. Turns out someone at the McCain campaign John McCain described the fact that Obama's poll numbers are increasingly positive as a result of the fact that, "Life isn't fair." So sad. Um... yeah.

UPDATE: this happened this morning on Fox News, and if you want to catch the clip itself in the midst of a nice compilation of McCain appearances on Cable News this morning, check it out on TPM TV.

Is it over?

Word on the street is that McCain is pulling out of Michigan. Not running ads, canceling events. If this is true, it's hard for me (at least) to see how Mac pulls this off. Michigan seems like one of the only blue states that could have gone for McCain. Maybe NH or PA, but that's really it. This whole cycle has taught us all that prediction is a fool's game, but right now... I wouldn't want to bet on a Republican victory.

UPDATE: More info on this here, continues rumor of Michigan pull-out, also documents VA staff-up.

No NO, There WILL BE Blogging in Live-Type Real Time Tonight!!

So my buddy Venice (aka Matt) has volunteered to live blog this evenings' VP BloodFest '08 in real time as it happens. He's nervous about taking on these responsibilities, so please support him with your comments, real-time witicisms of your own, etc., and enjoy his brilliant insight. If I can make it home from the softball madness perhaps I'll join in at some point, but fear not! Live Blogging is SO on.

No Liveblogging for John tonight! :(

Just a quick announcement: I won't be able to live blog the debate between the Barracuda and Gaffey Joe this evening, as I'll be in a softball triple-header starting at 6pm. That's right, three straight games of softball. Now, I have DVRed the debate, so I'll have some thoughts, for sure. If any of my fellow contributors would like to take on live blogging, please feel free.

Sarah's Rough Start To the Day

I hopped on Yahoo News, the site I often use as a compilation of various news sources, this morning and was greeted by a trio of Sarah Palin related stories from the AP. These stories discussed how voters in general are doubting Palin's readiness for office, how Alaskans are increasingly unhappy with their governor since she splashed onto the national stage, and how voters in the deep South, including many moderate Republicans are wary of McCain's VP choice.

Meanwhile, the Republican party talking heads are working to lower expectations and the Democrats are working to keep expectations that Palin may do quite well high. All I keep hearing about on MSNBC this morning is how the bailout bill that passed the Senate has $millions of tax breaks to help make wooden arrows for children (what???).

All of this along with recent polls showing Obama up by 10+ points in swing states may explain why John McCain was so cold to him on the Senate floor yesterday.