After the Final Debate.

Last week saw the final Presidential debate of the 2008 campaign (Barack's 29th since announcing his candidacy). The main feeling I was left with, especially after watching some split screen coverage, was how calm, cool, and confident Obama was, as opposed to the twitchy and angry john mccain. In his opening statement, mccain said the word "angry" four times. But in case you missed that, the split screen showed an eyes rolling, eye brow raising, tongue flicking, angry old man. The irony of john's talk on negative campaining, and being proud of his followers even when confrionted with the shouts of "terrorist" "kill 'im" and his Vice's "palling around with terrorists" didn't surprise me, or fool anyone. On abortion, he continued, as his vice did when talking about her teen age pregnant daughter, to use the word "decision". DECISION?!??! Isn't that exactly what you want to deny people the ability to do, decide for themselves what's best. Interesting side note, there was a hard hitting/to watch ad that aired right after the debate with a rape victim saying she didn't want to be forced by the government, or sarah palin, to have the child. As for Obama going against his party's leadership, look no further than His Campaign for the President of the United States of America, which went against almost all of the leadership (if you can remember back to the early part of the primaries), and took out the biggest last name in the Democratic party since Kennedy. Just think back when the Democratic leadership was falling in line behind Hillary. Then there was Joe (who's real name is Sam) the plumber (who isn't a licensed plumber) who's afraid of Obama's tax plan, even though he has admitted Barack plan would cut his taxes, not to mention his neglecting to pay them anyway. It certainly smells like the last attempt of a man with seven houses, thirteen cars, and $5,000 make up girl to relate to the "working man". Oh and here's a quick video to answer the burning question if "say and do anything to win/losing more integrity everyday" mccain is for or against the failure in chief (a "man" who john mccain has voted with him 90% of the time).

Barack Obama won this debate on style and on substance. He absorbed attacks with an unforced, comfortable smile and answered them with reasoned responses. His holding back from attacking his opponent and the republican vice presidential candidate only served to further distinguish himself from the other guy at the table (not Bob Schiffer, who I thought did great). He answered questions on Ayers (Here's a great Wall Street Journal Op Ed on that subject) who is now a professor and board member invited by a close ally of reagan and ACORN, "voter Registration fraud" complaints against which, GOP Gov. Christ says are overblown. In a related story, The Supreme Court has ruled against the GOP in their Ohio "voter fraud" claim. I know I am biased, almost as biased as they come on this, but which of these two candidates is Our best Hope of Change in Our Country's direction and the way it is governed? The candidate who has been there for 26 years, the last eight of which becoming a different man and a follower of those he once raled against or Barack Obama, who took on his party, with a campaign he has led, with a steady hand and message, over the last two years, taking it to places that were not too long ago deemed impossible. We decide.

I, like most of you I'm sure, can't wait for this campaign to be over. My nerves are really pretty shot at this point. More importantly, though, news outside the campaign has taken a back seat. From the roller coaster on wall street, falling and flailing non-stock market economic indices (unemployment, retail sales, productivity), stories of Our government spying on conversations of US citizens that have absolutely nothing to do with "terrorism" and the military passing around the juicy parts, bush's memo allowing waterboarding, Iraq and the US coming closer to agreeing on a withdrawal timetable, oil prices dropping to half of what they were in July and gas prices not, and then there's the legacy of a president whose arrival was greeted with a record economic surplus, after eight years of peace and prosperity, only to leave Us with the "greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression", two unfinished foreign wars, a war without end on a noun, making the US Constitution irrelevent when it comes to the privacy of US Citizens and the separation of church and state, a severely diminished status among the World's nations when it comes to human rights, the environment, science and international law and an increase in the power of the executive branch (yes dick that includes Vice President) to a point above the law while lowering the bar on the intelligence and consensus building it takes to be its chief.

I leave you with Letterman asking johnny about his relationship with convicted felon g.gordon liddy, the Washington Post's well put endorsement of Barack Obama for President, and the Beastie Boys' Rock the Vote for Obama in Swing States tour dates (Tenacious D will be there with them for a couple).