Obama Debate

"That One": McCain's Use of Dehumanization as Hate-Speech

Leah McElrath Renna | Posted 10.08.2008 | Politics

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When McCain refuses to look at Barack Obama and refuses to use his name, he is employing modified versions of a military technique -- a strategy of dehumanization.

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Obama Ad: McCain Will Tax Your Health Care

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 10.08.2008 | Politics

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Discussions about health care policy provided some of the strongest voter reactions for Barack Obama during last night's presidential debate. And on t...

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Citizens Panel Mixed on 'Town Hall' Format, Wanted Brokaw to Do More to Challenge the Spin

Timothy Karr | Posted 10.08.2008 | Media

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McCain's supporters seemed happy with the ground rules. Obama's supporters seemed happy with the results. But many were troubled by the debate organizers' claim of true public participation in Tuesday's forum.

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Obama Makes Appearance At Gore Fundraiser After Debate

AP | ERIK SCHELZIG | Posted 10.08.2008 | Politics

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama switched from debater to fundraiser Tuesday night, making a brief appearance a...

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Obama: Health Care Should Be A Right (VIDEO)

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

Tom Brokaw put the question to each candidate, "Is health care in America a privilege, a right, or a responsibility?" I'm not sure what McCain meant ...

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Obama Flips Script, Uses McCain Catch-Phrase Against Him

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

In their first debate, John McCain's constant refrain was that Barack Obama "didn't understand." Tonight, Obama grabbed that phrase and ran with it i...

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My Friends, I'm Going to Lie About Everything

Jeff Schweitzer | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

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Tonight was not a debate. What we saw instead was Obama presenting coherent answers to difficult questions, while his opponent perpetuated old lies, often unrelated to the subject at hand.

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McCain's Failed Debate Offensive

Ari Melber | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

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While McCain attacked most of the night -- in spite of the intimate, town hall setting -- Obama stuck to a crisper, measured tone, and still returned fire when necessary,

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Obama-McCain Town Hall Debate Reaction: HuffPost Bloggers Weigh In

Huffington Post | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

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Arianna Huffington: The Winner of Debate II? "That One": In Debate II, John McCain twice laid out the criteria for how the American people should jud...

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The Debate: Round Two to Obama

James Love | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

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If this was McCain's night to change the conversation, he changed nothing, looking more tired and less competent than the last debate. Obama seemed more confident and relaxed than last time out.

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Men are from Mars Women are from Venus in the Presidential Debate

Linda Bergthold | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

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On the CNN reaction meter, McCain never reaches Obama's highs, because even when people reluctantly agree with him, they have to factor in the fact that they just don't believe anything he says.

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Another McCain Dispute with Kissinger -- Now on Russia

Max Bergmann | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

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McCain said Ukraine was "in Russia's sights" and repeated his oft-repeated line that when he sees Putin he sees the letters "K.G.B." This is a good line if you are pundit, not if you are a president.

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Note to McCain: Uncommitted Ohio Voters Just Aren't Into Nuclear Power

Joseph Romm | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

McCain seems to think his strong support of nuclear power is a big political winner for him. But every time he talks about nuclear, he flatlines with both men and women.

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Obama Corrects McCain's History On Regulation (VIDEO)

HuffingtonPost.com | Nico Pitney | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

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McCain claims he warned about the coming economic crisis. But as ThinkProgress notes, in 2007, he admitted he was "surprised" by the crisis. "So, I'd ...

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Liveblog! Obama and McCain Square Off in Nashville

Huffington Post | Rachel Sklar | Posted 10.07.2008 | Media

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Our takeaway: Obama's still cool, McCain's still cranky, and Brokaw needs his teleprompter. Also, apparently McCain's known how to get Osama bin Laden this whole time. Aw jeez, NOW he tells us!

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Obama Camp: Will McCain Look At Obama Tonight?

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 10.07.2008 | Politics

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Preceding tonight's town hall presidential debate, the Obama campaign has put out a memo Tuesday morning both lowering expectations and accusing McCai...

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A Night at the Movies with John McCain

Alec Sokolow | Posted 09.29.2008 | Entertainment

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While I was watching the debates last Friday I kept seeing movies flash before my eyes. It hit me that I've been getting John McCain all wrong: He isn't Tom Cruise's Maverick in Top Gun.

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Lindsey Graham Too 'Tired' Sunday To Spin For McCain

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 09.29.2008 | Politics

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[Via Crooks and Liars] How did things go for John McCain last week? Lindsey Graham, who usually flacks McCain with a psychopathic, operatic zeal, got...

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Soldier's Mother "Ecstatic" Obama Mentioned Bracelet In Debate

AP | DINESH RAMDE | Posted 09.29.2008 | Politics

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MILWAUKEE — The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq says she was "ecstatic" when Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama mention...

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The Race is Still Close -- but It's Beginning to Feel Like It Could Be a Rout for Obama

Joe Trippi | Posted 09.27.2008 | Politics

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McCain would want us all to be going into the final month of the campaign having serious doubts about Obama. Instead it is McCain's actions that are causing doubts to rise about McCain's own candidacy.

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The Grouch and the Gentleman

Bill Press | Posted 09.27.2008 | Politics

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Not since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy has there been a starker contrast between the two candidates on stage. Yet, even with his five o'clock shadow, Nixon looked better than McCain.

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Candidates Fight To Control Perception Of Who Won Debate

New York Times | JIM RUTENBERG | Posted 09.27.2008 | Politics

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The presidential campaigns roared out of here Saturday morning facing a task arguably as difficult -- and as important -- as the debate between Barack...

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John McCain: Four More Years of 'You Just Don't Understand"?

Fred Goldring | Posted 09.27.2008 | Politics

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McCain appeared bothered by the sheer audacity of this newcomer in thinking he had the standing to question any of his actions or opinions.

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McCain: Deregulating Reality or Campaign by Anecdote

Sherman Yellen | Posted 09.27.2008 | Politics

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I worried that the American public had been so seduced over the past eight years by self-serving stories -- rather than practical realities -- that the storyteller would always win the day.

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Why So Many Pundits Wrongly Scored the Debate 'Even'

Greg Mitchell | Posted 09.27.2008 | Politics

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My feeling is that the Couric interview might have done for McCain what the first Nixon-Kennedy debate did for Nixon in 1960 -- a true watershed moment.

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