Liveblogging Debate 2008

7:59 PM (All times CDT)

Getting ready to liveblog the debate. Hopefully there won’t be too much commentary.

 

 

8:03 PM

No sound at all? Now that should be interesting. Oh, financial question first. Here we go!
Main Street vs. Wall Street. Good start. College. Very important point. Fast, but not too fast, addressing that $700bn is a lot of money. Measuring the economy by the middle class, thank you, Mr. Obama.

8:06 PM

Someone tell McCain that Sen. Kennedy is out of the hospital now. Whoops! McCain speaks a lot slower… and therefore says a lot less. And ha, five minutes is enough time to work out an agreement! Truth!

8:11

A Twitterer points out that McCain has already said that he is tired as a defense of his condition and whatever may happen. Interesting idea. And many people are already addressing McCain’s lack of a flag pin. I am amused.

8:15

McCain has just attached himself to “No earmarks”. This could be dangerous if Obama uses it well. Ah, the no-lobbyists-here card. And turning it on McCain. Back to working with for the people, not the corportations. McCain… Only $18bn? Only?

8:22

Obama uses the word “sometimes” followed by bringing up the healthcare issue that needs more attention anyways. McCain, we have to move on. And I think Obama does well looking back and forth between the audience there and the audience at the debate watching parties. It’s not just about who is there, it’s about people around the country!

8:27

Sen. Ted Stevens was the one to call McCain “the sheriff”. – From Politico’s Jonathan Martin

8:31

Transparency with spending projects. This has been very useful so far this campaign. And good job, Lehrer, don’t let McCain control you in this debate. “Hatchet” vs. “scalpel”. A very graphic statement.

8:37

Still haven’t seen McCain’s eyes yet. Hey, the people are out here! “Orgy of spending”? That’s… a bit risky terminology Senator Obama. Be careful. And McCain, you’re not “Ms. Congeniality”, but your running mate is may be! (FactCheck.org may need to be checked on this statement. Apologies for assumptions.)

8:41

Not sure if everything Obama has said just now is accurate, but it certainly sounded good, and for the next 24 hours, that’s all that matters. Let’s hope, for his sake, that most of it is the truth.

8:53

Wondering about the fun-o-meter of the audience, and finally! Foreign policy! But be careful of using charged words, McCain candidates. Lopping people together would be very bad. Here goes Obama, telling McCain that he is wrong, and explaining why. “No one said anything about attacking Pakistan.”

“Threaten extinction for North Korea”? Really? Where was this? I am genuinely interested.

9:01

My, there is a lot of information to keep track of at once. This is exciting. And we’re running over on taking only five minutes. I am not surprised. Oh… a long pause? For the first time in this debate. This “League of Democracies” sounds similar to the United Federation of Nations United Nations. Probably has more authority, at least in Senator McCain’s mind, but I’m not sure if that’s really a good thing.

9:08

McCain, it’s a bad idea to obviously struggle over a word. Even one that difficult. Oh, I think I just saw McCain’s eyes! One hour later!

9:14

McCain, Israel is not the United States, and you’re making your party sound more and more set about bringing about the… I cannot continue this train of thought. McCain just… Okay. Republicans seem to want to bring about the Biblical Armegeddon. How about we not set our goals on that? And thank you Senator Obama for clearing up what no “preconditions” means.

9:28

Suitcase threat right after talking about airport security. It’s a good mental connection for people. Very easy to imagine. And a shift to terrorism, and in Afganistan and Pakistan, not Iraq.

9:33

Obama’s on a committee that focuses on Veterans… and McCain is not? An interesting twist there. McCain almost used what seems to be a dangerous word, “invasion”. McCain’s trying to connect disconnected parts, but I’m not sure if he’s really explaining how that’s supposed to work.

9:37

And there ends the debate. Should be interesting to watch the reactions, and to get all of the information that has been gathered from this evening. Ah, and a last thing! Sen. Obama was the first to approach the other candidate to congratulate him on a good debate. Points there.

9:52

After a short break, I have to say that this debate was near even, at least in general affect on the population. Sen. Obama did a much better job of being focused, clear, and speaking as if he was talking to many more people than were actually there – which is what he needed to do. Sen. Obama also hit many of Nate Silver’s key debate points, but so did Sen. McCain. I think it will be very interesting to see the verification/debunking of statements on FactCheck.org when they finally get through everything that was said tonight.

 

Thank you, candidates, for the debate. It was entertaining, and I am looking forward to the debates still to come.

-Lelouch Lamperouge