McCain scored the zinger of the night with, "I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." But his performance was, in fact, incredibly Bush-like, mirroring Bush's signature stubbornness -- especially on Iraq -- by doubling down on a failed strategy. McCain's reliance on angry attacks on Obama has been an unequivocal failure. But instead of course-correcting, he doubled down -- coming across as angrier and meaner than ever before. This debate was won on the reaction shots. Every time Obama spoke, McCain grimaced, sneered, or rolled his eyes. By contrast, every time McCain was on the attack, Obama smiled. It was like watching a split-screen double feature -- Grumpy Old Men playing side by side with Cool Hand Luke.
If John McCain thinks Americans are angry, it's either because he's projecting, or else he's simply been going to too many of his own rallies.
The debate last night was just the most vivid example of what we've known all along: John McCain is out of touch on women's health.
Ninety minutes of John McCain making faces was more than enough for a lifetime. It's hard to imagine anyone willingly inviting that antic lemon-sucking grinfest into their homes for the next four years.
When McCain said "I'm not President Bush," it was like he was realizing that he had miscalculated, that siding with Bush for eight years might have gotten him in the race, but it also left him unable to win it.
McCain won the battle to most thrill the activists but Obama got the bigger prize: he defined himself as a reasonable seeker of the common ground.
Mccain and Palin and their ilk don't laugh. They patronize. They don't smile, they snicker. They don't debate, they denigrate. They don't talk, they condescend. They don't argue, they ridicule.
I was surprised by the snap polls from CBS and CNN showing a big win for Obama. I don't think McCain ran the table like he wanted, but he did raise his rhetorical game.
For McCain, the urgent need tonight was not for McCarthyism on Ayers or ACORN, but for sounding authoritative on the economy -- a daunting objective for someone who said he doesn't know much about economics.
Remember the breathless, tinfoil hat attacks against President Clinton and Senator Clinton during the 1990s? Fun times compared to what's surely on the way if Senator Obama wins this thing.
The right-wing attacks on ACORN beg the question: Why does it seem to be a greater sin to be suspected of voter registration mistakes than to publicly engage in voter suppression efforts?
I recently received a "Time Sensitive" letter from Howard Rich, a wealthy right-wing donor, that was laced with threats, false accusations, and un-American attempts to suppress speech. Here is my response.
I recommend that all of you start thinking about being compassionate to those you know who are about to suffer from the death of a world view that McCain's loss represents.
