Slog

As much as I'd like to believe it, I don't think he said horseshit. I listened to the clip repeatedly last night and it's somewhat clear that he's simply saying "of course", although it comes out more like "khorse". The horseshit thing seems like a petty things to spread around when there's much meatier (and true) stuff out there.

Paul, I absolutely agree with you. Obama played it safe, which was a smart move. Boring? Yes. But you know there are fireworks coming.

Good point about the undecideds. That's reassuring.

@1 Correct, it's nothing to get worked up about. However, for the record, I do think that he said "horseshit". The cadence, the tone, the look on this face...all indicative of a man cussing.

"course not" (short for "of course not") He says it twice.

i agree with 1.

and why WOULD he say "horseshit" to obama stating that spain was a nato ally? doesn't make any sense.

Andrew Sullivan says that he said "course not." He also said that if you were to subtitle this, it would most likely say Angry muttering.

I just think he was having himself one of his grumbly mumbly Grandpa moments. I detected all little drool too. Kinda hard to be up so late when you are his age.

obama won handily. why doubt what the american public tells you?

Yes donate now. The tee shirts and Obama togs really work -- wore it yesterday in a "non-political" environment where there are lots of people from other states.... lots of folks read the Obama verbiage and make friendly eye contact. Even started a few conversations and had a fist bump or two.

Donate now. Wear the togs.

Unity y'all--

He didn't say "horseshit." And even if he did, what would that tell us about McCain that we don't already know? That he's an old salty dog with a short fuse?

Stop the presses!

There is plenty of substance to hang around his neck. This is a non-event.

I think he says horse shit the first time, and course not (maybe) the second time.. And even though I'm an Obama fan, I actually cringed when he brought up the Prime Minister of Spain thing. I thought it was an attempt to have a sound bite on something that was just McCain being confused, not declarative, about. McCain's confusion may be a valid health issue, but the way Obama presented it was as a foreign policy issue just made it sound like crass policical warfare. If Obama was losing, maybe it would be ok to throw it in, but he was winning on the merits.. He didn't need that at all. It was distracting. Still. No Way. No How. No McCain.

..i haven't heard any commentary on this yet,but since mc cain brought it up, does anybody know if south koreans are shorter than north koreans ? does this have any bearing on actual policy ?

i disagree deric in la, obama could take the spain thing one of two ways, a) he could recognize mccain's confusion on a really simple subject and condescend to him as a doddering old man, or b) he could take the position of assuming mccain knows what he's talking about and take it at face value. the first option would make obama look kind of snooty, the second forces mccain to confront his inexcusable confusion about a really well known country.

i suppose option c could be to ignore the whole thing, but why would obama want to do that?

I just wish Obama wouldn't play it too safe and instead of saying "That's not true" to McCain, he should say "That's a lie and you know it!"

Democrats lose year after year because they look weak when they should look strong. Don't get me wrong, I love Obama, but I wish Hillary was up there debating. That was a debate we never got to see unfortunately.

it sounds to me like he's saying, "of course," like he was trying to butt in to comment. way to stir the pot clog.

and from the standpoint of who won, i'd say neither of them. there were no clear answers given, obama showed his lack of experience and mccain came off as a doddering, one-track-mind conservative. i don't think either of them is right for the office of president.

Obama used the word "orgy." Has that ever happened before in a presidential debate? My violently foul mouth disconnects me from the teevee-viewing public at large, but is "orgy" now an acceptable word for presidents to use in public? Next, he should call McCain a "fuckwit."

A better grumpy grampa moment was when McCain shuffled his papers noisily all through Obama's closing statement.

I feel like he must have been surprised at the end of the debate to turn and see Barack not five feet to his left... he's been up here the whole time?

Pretty much a draw. I expected a knockout punch by Obama and he never delivered, McCain stayed in the game and got some shots in, that will work in McCain's favor over time. Bummer. I wanted to see Obama slug harder.

yup, it looks/sounds like "that's horse-shit, horse-shit". Looking at his lips, I can't interpret it as "'course not". There's no "n" sound..

McCain had the attitude of someone who spent his whole life sacrificing himself for his country, who now had to defend a neophyte that couldn't remember his first name.

If he said HS, he probably should be calling BS.

@13: Actually it's the North Koreans who are shorter because of malnutrition. I have heard that before (can't remember where--probably NPR) and I don't think it's disputed by anyone. Their Dear Leader would rather pour what little resources his country has into building weapons while the basic needs of his people are being neglected (sound familiar?)

That said, you're correct about it being a non-issue. Just like the alleged Horseshit comment--there are so many other things about McBush that could be brought up.

Only $30 for a free t-shirt!

@21-Yeah, I thought he sounded like an old man telling someone to get off his lawn, too.

With the first utterance, he makes an "sh" sound. If he said "of course not" instead, would he pronounce as "coursh"? If so, he needs to apply more Polygrip to his dentures.
Sounds like horseshit to me!

@6 - He was calling out McCain re: a radio interview he gave whereby he made Spain seem like a rogue "Latin American" state, rather than one of our most loyal allies in Europe. He was a bit confused by the phrasing of the interviewer's question (and likely, her accent). Nevertheless, he's supposedly smart enough to know the difference or to ask for a repeat of the question if he does not understand it. As for Obama bringing it up, I say, "Touche'."

Is it just me, or does "Debate Night In America" sound suspiciously like "Hockey Night In Canada"?

Frankly, the whole thing felt strangely like watching a quiz show, what with the audience polling feature keeping tabs literally word-for-word. I kept expecting that black screen behind them to start flashing some sort of scoring, but I guess that's what the graph thing was for.

"I'll take 'How to Correctly Pronounce Ahmadinejad" for $800, Alex."

@26
IN the original interview, he was clearly confused. In following up,his campaign should have just said he had misunderstood the question and it would have blown over, even in Spain, where this was a big deal.

Instead, in a fit of fear of being labeled prealzheimers, his campaign clarified by affirming that he really meant he wouldn't agree to meet with Zapatero, even though several months ago he said he would invite Zapatero to the White House!

@ 27.

Now whenever I hear the name "Ahmadinejad" I think of Stephanie Miller, notorious for being unable to pronounce names more complex than "Smith" or "Miller". After days of her on the air cohorts directing and correcting here, she finally gave up on Ahmadinejad and started calling him "I'm a dinner jacket."

He didn't say the horse word, most likely he said "of course" Which in my thinking is agreement with what Mr. Obama was reminding him of.

We won't support NO-Bama and will redefeat him in November !! Go Hillary 2012 !!

madashell@26, thanks for the background. and let's let clintonsarmy have the last word, just for shitsandgiggles....oops, er, sorry, dude.

Naive youngins out there voting for someone who has less than a year's experience in the senate compared to a honorable man who diserves to be president. Who fought for our country and sustained injuries. Has ample knowledge regarding warfare and what it takes to keep America safe. Not some panzy who won't even place his hand over his heart to honor the flag. The majority of his own kind won't even vote for him due to his shady popularity speeches. What's that saying "young and foolish yet?" I sure know that's the truth. Wake up and stop smoking the hasheesh.

So, Christie, someone who has been a DC figure for more than 28 years and agreed with Bush more than 95 percent of the time deserves your support?

My.

Too bad the only one that gives 95 percent of all Americans a tax cut is actually Senator Obama - Senator McCain would increase most Americans taxes - according the Wall Street Journal!

You stay classy, #33.

By the way, I just donated money to Obama. It looks like they're not doing shirts right now - I'm apparently receiving a car magnet.