So is the only effective Republican Hail Mary strategy now to shoot Palin? Blame it on the Cubans and put an altar up to her next to St. Reagan's?

I'm going old school radio style so let me know if there are any noteworthy facial expressions or audience fashion faux pas

Where's my widget?

Yat-chan and Fuku-chan to the debate STAT McCain can't talk and write at the same time

I lost a wheel!

I think McCain meant FDR when he mentioned Hoover earlier about raising taxes in a financial crisis.

I submitted like 10 comments over the course of 20 min, all of which did not get through to LiveSlog. What gives????????

Answer the question.

So did McCain have a load in his diaper or what? he looked like he needed a walker

I just got polled about who should be Mayor right the second the debate ended.

Obama for the win.

Are "uncommitted" voters the biggest attention whores in the country or are they just morons? Who the fuck doesn't know what candidate they're with by now? So sick of seeing these idiots getting interviewed - pretty sure they didn't get held enough as children.

Favorite debate portion: when McCain said we need a "spending freeze" but we also need to "buy up these bad loans" "yes, it's expensive".

Yep, I must say, McCain was over-prepped and relied too much on canned answers he's used before.

Canned lies, you mean.

Was Tom Brokaw drunk?!??!!

Wow, CNN has Obama winning the debate by a huge margin. McCain's favorability was unaffected, while Obama's went up by about 4%. I am the worst judge of who wins these things -- I try to overcompensate for my biases too much, I think....

@15: if he was like the rest of us, yes, by necessity. Although with him, who could tell given his normal diction.

Best part was when McCain pulled out the "speak softly and carried a big stick" schtick, then Obama nailed him on the hypocrisy of "Bomb Bomb Iran." What kind of sick fuck jokes about that anyways?

Aargh - 18 should be carry, not carried.

And my comment about this got posted in the Live Slog, but I felt like this debate for the most part was based on 20th Century, USA #1 thinking that is no longer relevant. America cannot remain the superpower and effectively deal with our economic problems at the same time. I didn't hear either Obama or McCain address that - except that McCain would send even more high-paying defense jobs overseas which would save the giant sum of $6 million.

Obama won when he just needed a tie. All of the terrorist bullshit is over. If it wasn't a topic at the debate then it's not a topic for the MSM.
I think that's all the R's have except for voter fraud.

Frankly, I thought the best part was at the very end when all the ladies (and a few guys) in the audience whipped out their disposable cameras to pose for pictures w/ Barack, while mccain grabbed hands to shake and cindy held her hands behind her back like she want to touch the commoners.

It's bizarre how these people think "joking with a veteran" or Palin "talking with a voter" are somehow privileged communication that our enemies will never clue into. How does this kind of shit not "tip your hand" as they accuse Obama of?

@ 7: because non, you are a stupid douche bag troll and everyone wishes you would just take the fucking hint, crawl into your troll hole and ROT THERE--you have NEVER had anything interesting or worthwhile to say, and since you are the only fucktard who disagrees with that statement, why don't you go sit in the dark and jabber at your stupid, stupid self? you are a bigger and worse troll than ecce homo and ecce homo combined. i for one wish you would DIE.

@15 I noticed Brokaw talking like that before Tuesday's debate and assumed he had a minor stroke or something in the not too distant past, but turns out his "cleft palate" is just giving him more and more of an accent / speech impediment as he ages.

I am voting for Obama. But Jesus fucking Hail Mary's, take the ball and run with it. The last question was the answer to all questions: What don't you know and how would you deal with it?
WHAT OBAMA SHOULD HAVE SAID:
I wouldn't suspend my candidacy nor my presidency. Many people watching tonight don't know whether or not they will receive their next pay-check-THEY EARNED. America is sitting on a sharp point. Do we jump? Or do we reign in every thing we have? I am answering questions tonight that many are even afraid to ask- how do we move forward, without falling down?
Planning, not rhetoric. I could give you many emotions; but that doesn't give us a plan for: pulling out of Iraq , crushing Bin Laden, repairing your retirement fund, nor providing you health care. The American people need to know that THEY ARE FIRST, No matter what.

Tell me what undecided wouldn't swing with that?

1. Tom Brokaw is always drunk.
2. So am I.
3. @9: McCain has prostate gait.

I tried the live-slog during the debate, but I turned it off. There's so many comments, I couldn't watch the debate and read the liveslog at the same time. Most of the comments were crap anyway, so it was no great loss.

Can we allow people to turn off the outside comments and just read the Stranger staff comments? Or maybe be more judicious about what you let through?

[Comment From MadDog]
"Why do either of these fuckers WANT to be president, they are inheriting a big pile of shit..."

It'll make the job harder, but if you get the country through a major crisis and do it well you will be remembered, not just as a president, but as a GREAT president. I for one would love to see Obama remembered alongside Lincoln and FDR.