My question: Why? I mean, I know why, but isn’t the VP candidate’s #1 job to vigorously defend their candidate? McCain is at a serious disadvantage given the campaign’s hesitance to unleash the pitbull. And to that point…McCain needs to let Palin be Palin and let the chips fall where they may. The more voters [...]

And he said there were no “game changers.” I agree, but I give the night to Obama because he held his own. Has McCain righted his election ship or is it still unsteady?

I thought Obama was better than McCain on the economy because that first 20 minutes for McCain simply wasn’t good. He was shaky, uncertain and didn’t really convince anybody he had a good command on the topic. Also, Obama certainly made the case that McCain was tied to the failures of Bush’s economic policy, and [...]

Keep it clean. Keep it honest. Game on! (By the way, I think I’ll just post my thoughts in the comments section as the debate goes on. So please join in!) Thoughts at 8:28 p.m. CST Obama is detailed. McCain is shaky. John will have to right his ship soon or risk losing this thing. [...]

Here’s the vid… A partial transcript… I do think that John McCain was very helpful in what he did. I saw him this morning, we’ve been talking with his staff. Clearly, yesterday, his position in that discussion yesterday was one that stopped a deal from, uh, finalizing that no House Republican, in my view, would’ve [...]

Yesterday it was tied, and now Obama gains two and McCain loses one to go back to the 3 point lead Obama had on Wednesday. Gallup talks economy: The propensity for Obama’s candidacy to benefit from public anxiety about the economy became apparent as Obama moved into a six-point lead over McCain in last week’s [...]

Haha, you really can’t make stuff like this up. From Wash Post: “McCain Wins Debate!” declares the ad which features a headshot of a smiling McCain with an American flag background. Another ad spotted by our eagle-eyed observer featured a quote from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis declaring: “McCain won the debate– hands down.” This [...]

I shared a quote from Ross Douthat yesterday about not wanting to link to any of the Couric interview videos, but now we have Kathleen Parker actively not wanting Palin to be linked to the Republican ticket at all. From National Review: If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist [...]

Of course he will. Because after this awful week (Rick Davis’ lobbying ties, Sarah Palin’s horrible interview, impending bailout implosion), he’s going to need something to boost his ratings. From Politico: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announces: “The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the [...]

The bailout deal has fallen apart, Washington Mutual has failed and John McCain may skip tonight’s presidential debate (update: McCain now says he will attend). But hey, at least it’s Friday. I’m not easily flustered, but all this has knocked me a little off-kilter. The phrase “largest bank failure in U.S. history” is uncomforting, even [...]

John McCain is playing an enormously high stakes game of poker with his campaign. He’s essentially betting the ranch that a bailout deal will get done today, and that he can claim some credit — any credit — for making that happen. Yesterday, it looked like a compromise had been reached, but House Republicans balked at [...]

Obama – 50% McCain – 45% Obama gains one and McCain drops another point as we arrive at debate day. A few things… Gallup is currently showing a tie. However, Gallup takes a 3-day rolling average of registered voters, while Rasmussen takes a 5-day rolling average of likely voters. And, as I’ve been told, polling [...]

More from ABC: In the Entertainment Weekly cover story, Stewart says the power of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s entry into the race is evidenced in the ability it had to sideline every other character in the election. Stewart calls the press covering it “six-year-olds playing soccer.” “It has cast the first African-American presidential nominee, the [...]

If McCain won’t show up, he’ll simply do it himself. That’s right. According to the Huffington Post, he’ll take the 90 minutes worth of free television and either conduct a town hall meeting or answer questions from moderater and NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer. Or…he’ll do both. Also, the Republican governor of Mississippi said earlier today [...]

“I can’t link to them; they’re too painful.” – Republican blogger Ross Douthat on Palin’s disastrous interview with Couric But hey, I’ll link to them. Hell, I’ll even embed them! Wow.

Hey hey, now we’re getting somewhere! Finally some transparency! You know, that think that reformers and mavericks aren’t afraid of. From Politico her answer on Alaskan politicians Ted Stevens and Don Young “Ted Stevens’ trial started a couple days ago. We’ll see where that goes.” On whether she would do things differently than the Bush [...]

This one is much longer, and includes Palin’s previous Alaska/Russia foreign policy explanation, which Doug described as “Another Deer In The Headlights Moment For Sarah Palin.” But putting that aside, she reveals her views on Henry Kissinger, spreading democracy and not second guessing Israel…ever. Well, unless we agree with them. Then we won’t second guess [...]

If you can forget for a moment how incredibly important the upcoming election is, you have to admit that the two vice presidential candidates have provided us with some great entertainment. While Sarah Palin keeps arguing that Alaska’s proximity to Russia counts as foreign policy experience, Joe Biden gave us this golden nugget a few [...]

Quite a swing from yesterday, as Gallup shows a tied race while Rasmussen shows Obama with a 3 point lead. The details… This update covers interviewing conducted Monday through Wednesday, and as such includes one night after McCain’s announcement that he was suspending election campaigning and flying to Washington to help seek a bipartisan solution [...]

According to key Republicans and Democrats, lawmakers have reached a bailout deal. While the details are still forthcoming, members of both houses of Congress sound confident that they will act soon to supply the financial markets with the $700 billion bailout. Look for more specifics to emerge after President Bush concludes his high-profile meeting with [...]