McCain and Obama in first debate: No big moments

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama appeared in tonight's first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. After a turbulent week of economic and political drama, viewers are left not knowing who really hit it out of the park at the debate.

It would appear that Sen. McCain started out soft and ended strong. It would also suffice it to say that Sen. Obama started out strong and ended intellectually strong, but lacking in actual expertise to draw from. This is natural given that the debate spent about the first 30 minutes parsing the recent economic crises of the nation on Wall Street as well as Main Street and the last hour debating foreign policy and national security, both of which McCain capitalizes on voters' confidence.

The contenders discussed Iraq in depth, but didn't exactly stipulate their plans for the bailout package currently on the table at Capitol Hill. Moderator, Jim Lehrer of PBS, had to repeatedly ask the senators to specify whether or not they are yea or nay for the rescue plan. Sen. Obama though, did enumerate his plans for what needed to be done with the bailout. This is really the area Sen. McCain needed to come out on top of, with his latest proclamations and his failed history of wooing voters with his economic comprehension.

My question is: What do ya'll think of tonight's debate? Who do you think came out on top? For me, it was pretty lackluster.

Coming up next: Vice Presidential Debate: Sen. Joseph Biden vs. Gov. Sarah Palin - Thursday, October 2 - Don't forget to tune in!

[Source: Bethany]

Letterman tears McCain an even newer asshole

It's all good, we're sure he wears Depends, anyway.

Please do watch the clip above. It's a nice mix of snark, passive-aggression and everyone's favorite leftist, wire-rimmed glasses wearing fill-in host, Keith Olbermann.

"Someone's putting something in his Metamucil."

[Source: gawker.com]

Bush warns of 'long and painful recession' without financial rescue

President Bush addresses the nation on the financial crisis from the White House. He says the $700 billion bailout package is "aimed at preserving America's overall economy."

Though he says his "natural instinct" is to oppose intervening in the market, he claims "these are not normal circumstances."

"Any rescue plan should also be designed to ensure that taxpayers are protected," Mr. Bush said. "It should welcome the participation of financial institutions, large and small. It should make certain that failed executives do not receive a windfall from your tax dollars. It should establish a bipartisan board to oversee the plan's implementation. And it should be enacted as soon as possible."

[Sources: thepage.time.com, nytimes.com]

Obama rebuffs McCain's plea to delay Friday's debate

Check out his response below.

In all honesty people, there's no reason the candidates can't do both. They can address the financial crises AND address the nation in the presidential debate Friday night. Grand gestures aren't needed for us to feel they are putting our economic woes to rest. Don't crap out of your obligations, your obligation to the University of Mississippi, who's been planning and orchestrating this event for months now, to the Commission on Presidential Debates, to Barack Obama, to the American people, who NEED to hear your positions on the issues, and we need to hear them NOW. Time is running out. Election day will be upon us in a matter of weeks (have you registered to vote yet?). As president of this nation, you will need to multitask and multitask with aplomb. Get your ass in gear mister!

[Source: thepage.time.com]

Campbell Brown tears McCain a new one

Amen sista'!

I urge you all to listen to the following clip below. I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with Brown and immediately thought this in response to a post I wrote yesterday. 

Free Sarah Palin!

Katie Couric interviews Palin

In her third interview - that's right, they can still be counted on one hand - Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin sits down with Katie Couric of CBS to discuss the current financial crises and Senator John McCain's plans to assuage them.

We get to hear about McCain's maverick image, Palin's inability to articulate any real specifics even when asked more than once to elaborate and get a great sign-off that should basically have a voiceover of "Errrrrr..."

Palin Power!

McCain suspends campaign and seeks to delay Friday's debate!

Egads!

Senator John McCain just announced that he plans to suspend campaigning on Thursday, and seek a delay in this week's planned presidential debate Friday, so that he could return to Washington to try to forge a consensus on a financial bailout package.

Shortly after, the Obama camp issued a statement saying the two candidates had spoken on the phone this morning about issuing a statement on the financial difficulties facing the nation, but it did not address canceling the debate.

McCain and Obama have been under pressure to enact some kind of significant change regarding the proposed $700 billion bailout package. 

"I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself," he said in New York this afternoon. "It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem."

It's all very phoenix in the rising, Mr. McCain trying to appear as the one spearheading this call to action, but it was actually Sen. Obama who began the exchange with the Arizona senator.

"At 8:30 this morning, Sen. Obama called Sen. McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal," said Bill Burton, the spokesman for the Obama campaign.

Democrats reacted skeptically to Mr. McCain's surprise announcement (as they should have), accusing that it seemed like a political ploy to try to gain the confidence of voters concerned about the economy.

"What, does McCain think the Senate will still be working at 9 p.m. Friday?" Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania said, referring to the start time of the debate. "I think this is all political - I wish McCain had shown the same concern when he didn't show up in the Senate to vote on the extension of the renewable energy tax credit."

It all seems to be a game and an attempt to put Mr. Obama between a rock and a hard place. If he shakes his head no to ol' Mac and goes ahead with the debate, some will think Sen. McCain is the one concerned with solving the financial problems on Wall Street this week and if he acquiesces and agrees to postpone the debate, then he's still simply a follower.

So, here we go again, with McCain going to all lengths to appear bipartisan and maverick in the strangest of ways. Use some sense people. I certainly hope you can multitask, and deal with both things.

Not to mention, this kind of puts a hole in the latest article I've written that goes to print today. Thanks Mac!

FTW.

[Source: msnbc.msn.com]

McCain aide's firm was paid by Freddie Mac

Lies!

One of the mortgage giants at the heart of the current credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain's campaign manager, the New York Times is reporting today.

The revelation directly undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that his campaign manager, Rick Davis, has had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Read the article in full here.

Yay for lies! Looking forward to more!

[Source: nytimes.com]

Dean: Bush just trying to protect Wall Street

The DNC chair, Howard Dean, tells MSNBC that Congress will is likely to only support a bailout bill that also helps taxpayers and mortgage payers. And then basically goes on to say that President Bush really only wants to keep money in the pockets of them big CEOs.

Click here to view the video.

He also added that McCain tends to react to things in a "hot-headed way" and is sometimes "irascible" compared to Obama's "calm" demeanor. I don't know, I think that if the calm and debonair Obama took a cue from Howard Dean's handbook, he might be a little more entertaining. No?

[Source: thepage.time.com]

Obama ad upbraids McCain on equal pay

An unannounced spot by the Obama camp features former Goodyear employee Lilly Ledbetter discussing how getting paid less than the men at her job affected her family.

The ad lambasts Sen. McCain for his belief that equal pay isn't an issue for women.

McCain camp responds: "Barack Obama claims he's for equal pay for women, but women working in his Senate office earn an average of $9,000 less than men, while women in John McCain's Senate office earn an average of nearly $2,000 more than men. American women understand that real leadership is about what you do, not just what you say."

[Source: thepage.time.com]

Obama condemns Ahmadinejad's UN remarks

Senator Barack Obama on Iranian Presidnet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks:

"I strongly condemn President Ahmadinejad's outrageous remarks at the United Nations, and am disappointed that he had a platform to air his hateful and anti-Semitic views. The threat from Iran's nuclear program is grave. Now is the time for Americans to unite on behalf of the strong sanctions that are needed to increase pressure on the Iranian regime.

"Once again, I call upon Senator McCain to join me in supporting a bipartisan bill to increase pressure on the Iranian regime by allowing states and private companies to divest from companies doing business in Iran. The security of our ally Israel is too important to play partisan politics, and it is deeply disappointing that Senator McCain and a few of his allies in Congress feel otherwise."

[Source: thepage.time.com]

Someone's scared of somethin'

It is being reported that GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has not held a press conference in nearly four weeks of campaigning, initially barred reporters from her first meetings with world leaders today, but pulled an about face after they protested.

Campaign aides initially told the press that followed the hockey mom that they would not be admitted along with still photographers and a video camera crew in to photograph her meetings with several world leaders at the UN General Assembly this week.

Several news organizations, including the AP, objected to the exclusion of reporters and were told that the decision was not subject to discussion. However, press are routinely allowed for these kinds of events. 

After receiving immediate criticism, the spokeswoman for the campaign, Tracey Schmitt said it was all just a "miscommunication."

These reports should be really disturbing to people. The hesitance, reluctance and the unabashed attempts at secrecy of the McCain camp do not bode well for what a McCain-Palin presidency could represent.

[Source: ap.org]

Bill: Hillary best VP pick

Not that anyone's surprised by this, but Former President Bill Clinton said Monday that while Sen. Joe Biden was a "good choice" to be Barack Obama's running mate, his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, "would have been the best politically."

"It's a very personal decision, who should be vice president," Clinton said on ABC's The View. "I think that [Obama] felt more comfortable with another choice, and you have to respect that."

"I like Sen. Biden a lot. I think he was a good choice," said the former president, before adding of his wife, "She would have been the best politically, at least in the short run, because of her enormous support in the country."

However, he reveals that Hil didn't want to be Obama's running mate.

Well, duh.

"She said that if he asked 'I'll do it because it's my duty' but I think, look, she loves being a senator from New York."

[Source: politico.com]

Palin to meet with 7 world leaders

The girl who just attained a passport last year is set to meet with 7 world leaders in New York City this week, where the U.N. General Assembly is convening.

The veep candidate is slated to meet with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Ukrainian President Victor Yuschenko, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Oh right, and Bono.

This is exciting! The wonders this will do for America's credibility!

[Source: ap.org]

The 50 richest members of Congress

More reasons to hate 'em.

Here's the top 5:

1. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)

$250.98 million

That ain't even countin' his wife's ketchup fortune.

2. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.)

$225.96 million

3. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)

$160.62 million

4. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.)

$80.40 million

5. Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.)

$78.96 million

Sen. John McCain comes in at number 13 on the list with $19.64 million, not countin' his wife's moolah, whose worth reportedly exceeds $100 million.

Oh yeah, elitist and celebrity Barack Obama doesn't appear on the list.

Check out the full list here.

[Source: jossip.com]

McCain and his 13 cars

Ahh, the chagrin of public records. Newsweek took a little peekaroo into the candidate's vehicle-registration records and turned up this little nugget o' information. John and Cindy McCain own 13 cars while Barack and Michelle Obama own one. Oh, and their lede...

When you have seven homes, that's a lot of garages to fill.

Priceless.

[Source: newsweek.com]

John McCain's Chief of Staff outed

It's been revealed that John McCain's Senate chief of staff, Mark Buse, is gay. This fact seems to have sent many people in a tailspin over its irony. I, for one, don't want to be bothered with any perceived drama behind this story. Yes, go rant to anyone who will listen about how hypocritical and self-hating the man is, but you're just wasting your breath and energy. It's politics, baby. I ain't surprised by nothin'. Nada. Niente.

[Source: signorile2003.blogspot.com]