- Obama dodged the ‘who would you appoint’ question… a small dodge but a huge sign of Obama relying on his colleagues for talking points and lists.

- McCain hit Obama hard on the contributions from Freddie and Fannie. McCain should have mentioned this for a while now.

- McCain was genuine… but clunky as he walked about. (But you’d be clunky too if torturers broke your shoulders… and broke your teeth off at the gum line for giggles.)

- Obama won’t admit it… be he honesttoGod thinks he’s the modern day black JFK.

- Obama was the first to bring up 9/11… wow… and it took 31 minutes.

- Obama criticized Bush’s comments that were made in the short days after 9/11… not smart. Does Obama forget that people had an 86% approval rate of Bush during that time?

- Forget the ‘content’ aspect of the debate… Obama did not perform well. Performing is what has gotten Obama where he is.

- Your quote of the night… McCain: “I got news Senator Obama… the economy is bad.”

- Everyone knows that Obama gets very defensive. His defensive side came out tonight and while he made valid points, the tone in which he made them isn’t going to win over those folks in the middle.

- McCain: “I’ll answer the question, Tom” Obama didn’t answer any questions tonight.

- McCain: Record, record, record. It’s not about what people SAY they will do, it’s about what said SAID they would do, and what they ACTUALLY did once they got in office. (Obama: Hey, everybody… ummm… more of the same… umm… George W. Bush III… umm… hope… ummm… Sarah Palin hates moose.)

- Barack Obama is brilliant in painting McCain’s great plans as poor ones. That’s not a compliment to Obama.

- My favorite quote… Obama: “It’s true. I don’t understand.” (I’m going to cut that quote short right there… it’s more fun to look at.)

- McCain: “Long ago I warned about [insert current catastrophe here]” this is why I love John McCain… he doesn’t say what he would have done… he says what he did, and most often he was right.

- McCain: “I’m not going to telegraph my punches.”

- Tonight… Obama was a good debater. Tonight… McCain proved that he is presidential.

- Obama: “…scrimpin’…”

Further proof that the media is a driving force behind Obama’s election as President: Saturday Night Live pulls video of skit that takes digs at Obama… leaves up every anti-McCain/Palin video

Obama’s campaign has been a well-oiled machine… but to have the mainstream media in the bag is a asset that no campaign can compete against.

Biden’s “overwhelming” win in the CNN focus group.

“The respect [John McCain] is given around the world is not because of a teleprompter speech designed to appeal to American critics abroad, but because of decades of clearly demonstrated character and statesmanship.”

- Sen. Fred Thompson

(Before you claim ‘Fox bias’… this same process picked Obama as the winner of the first debate.)

“Biden thinks Cheney is the most dangerous vice president we’ve ever had? What about Burr?”

Sarah Palin looked presidential.

Joe Biden looked tired.

Sarah made history.

Biden is history.

Palin devastated Biden. She put him on the defensive. She made him sigh repeatedly. He rolled his eyes, licked his teeth, talked down, pontificated, and really did himself few favors. About the only major point score for Biden was talking about being a single parent.

“The Democrats, tonight, are relieved that there is only one Vice Presidential debate.”

- Tom Brokaw

Anyone who wants to discuss the debate during the debate, I’ll be pseudo-live blogging.

Entering Oktoberfest Saturday night, I was sporting my Seahawks hat as we passed a group of Obama supporters signing up new voters.

Guy w/Obama shirt: Hey! Go Seahawks!
Me: Go Seahawks!
Guy w/Obama shirt: Yeah!
Me: Go McCain!
Guy w/Obama shirt: Yea–Hey…wait…

Barack Obama’s running mate says a campaign ad that mocked Republican presidential candidate John McCain as an out-of-touch, out-of-date computer illiterate was “terrible” and would not have been done had he known about it.

We talk about politics a good bit around the blog… but how many of us have actually put our money where your mouth is. Or, in Obama’s case: put your money where your teleprompter is.

“Poor People have been voting for Democrats for the last 50 years… and they are still poor.”

- Charles Barkley

[credit Andy Byars]

The Electoral College is.

Talk about a non-issue. Palin bought the used tanning bed from a health club with her own money.

Democrats are running scared, talking major non-issues… and they should be.

A humorous take on the Charles Gibson-Sarah Palin interview from Republican strategist, Whit Ayres:

“On a one to ten scale, with ten being perfect, I’d rate her a 6 on this interview…a 9 as a VP pick, and an 11 on driving the Democrats nuts.”