Debate liveblog

Oh wow, I'm late to the show. What'd I miss!???

10:29 What? Closing statements, already? How terribly terribly disappointing.

10:25 John McCain says Sarah Palin knows a lot about having children with autism. Presumably he thinks she knows more about this than anybody in the country. Presumably he also thinks autism is approximately equal to Down Syndrome.

10:20 Joe Plumber vs. Chauncey Gardner in 2016.

10:18 How old were you when you first engaged in... cavalier activity?

10:13 Obama also very strong explaining equal pay for equal work and Lilly Ledbetter. On abortion, McCain sounds like a crotchety old Republican, but he knows where he stands. Obama does better on this issue than most Dems do (privacy in Constitution, decision between woman and her doctor, prevent unintended pregnancies instead of preventing abortions, etc.) but it's still impossible for him to say pro-choice.

10:05 McCain just called Obama Senator O'Government. That's about half right. Obama is a socialist. But, he's not Irish. He's an Arab. Senator bin Government.

10:02 During the back and forth about health care John McCain looked like he was going to spontaneously combust. Or strangle Barack Obama with his teeth. He's losing the ever-important demeanor game.

9:55 Most of the time Obama's not a very good debater. But occasionally, he's able to make an extremely detailed policy dispute seem very clear. As he just did RE: the Columbian and Peruvian free trade agreements.

9:52 Yaaaaaaaaaaawn. My prediction from earlier.

[T]onight, I think McCain will go deep into the gutter, and Obama will respond by taking the high road, pointing out that the country doesn't need bitterness at a time of crisis. Because at this point, McCain has no other options, and Obama doesn't need to take any risks.

Decent? No? Discuss.

9:50 Approximate John McCain: Extreme environmentalists say nuclear power is teh awesome because our submarines are nuclear powered. A triumph of fact and reason.

9:47 Here we go. On to "climate control". A serious talk about the issue of... central air. Thank you Bob Schieffer.

9:46 Deep thought of the debate: If those squiggly lines were waves, I'd want to surf them... man.

9:45 McCain had an extremely difficult time defending Sarah Palin.

9:43 During the Ayers/"ACORN is destroying the fabric of Democracy" thing, CNN's squiggle lines went down. This is a very significant fact for reasons I assume you already understand.

9:39 Here comes Ayers. Obama beat off the smear before McCain had realllly gotten into it. But McCain did mention it first, and Obama responded pretty well. McCain fought to keep the issue alive after Obama's retort, but looked extremely weak and ashamed while doing it.

9:36 There needs to be an effort on the part of Democrats to make Republicans look worse than Diebold conspiracy theorists when they say ACORN is perpetrating voter fraud.

9:33 McCain: "I'm proud of the people who come to my rallies." Good for you, John.

9:31 (Somewhere in America) Joe the Plumber: "I'M FRICKIN FAMOUS!"

9:27 Here comes the drama! McCain asked to repeat any of his attacks against Obama directly to Obamas face. Responds by complaining Obama's refusal to participate in town hall debates, about John Lewis comparing him to George Wallace and about Obama refusing to accept matching funds. Obama responds by noting that McCain has been on the whole more negative, and dispelling the notion that he's at fault for not appearing on the town hall circuit. They both chickened out.

9:26 McCain keeps batting his eyes in a coquettish fashion.

9:23 Barack Obama: "I support clean coal technology. Doesn't make me popular with environmentalists." Indeed. Nor does it make him popular with the environment.

9:21 McCain with a fairish point "Senator Obama, if you wanted to run against President Bush, you should've run four years ago." Too bad about his entire policy portfolio.

9:19 On a superficial level, Obama seems very cool. Obama is trying to attack with a smile and it makes his face do weird things.

9:17 I'm growing extremely tired of liveblogging the same debate over and over again.

9:13 McCain now lying about business taxes. Ireland has in fact done pretty well in recent years, but not because American businessmen are running away from corporate taxes in this country. They rather like the loopholes here.

9:10 Came in during a back and forth about taxes and mortgages. Obama made the right critique of the McCain plan to buy mortgages from banks at face value and renegotiate it with the buyer. McCain changed the subject to Joe the plumber? I'd prefer a conversation about Barbie Snodgrass.