Just as well Adorable Child decided to watch Aladdin tonight instead of the last presidential debate; it would have bored her to tears. If you opted for Aladdin this evening as well, the transcript is available here.
The only thing new that I heard tonight was Joe the Plumber. Oh… and Joe. The Plumber. And then they talked some more about Joe the plumber again.
Since Polimom and Dear Husband have a business situation similar to Joe’s, it’s only fair to mention that a tax bracket change isn’t usually considered a make-or-break decision point. If you’re hovering that close to the profit line, it may be that the business isn’t quite ready for that next level yet. (Added: See here.)
Let’s see… Anybody notice anything besides Joe?
How about the difficulty McCain seemed to have containing his left lip-sneer when he was hitting back with vouchers in DC? It manifested overtly twice — once one he was directly addressing Obama, and almost immediately again when he mentioned the Democrats. I’m having trouble seeing this guy as a bipartisan leader, personally.
Barack Obama, by contrast, seemed totally unrattled — so much so that at one point, I thought he might actually laugh at McCain (a very bad idea, imho!). On the other hand, he swatted the long-awaited Ayers bomb down with complete aplomb, making the entire issue look pretty danged trivial.
Ducks. Water. Backs.
I did see one area, though, where the recent GOP attacks may have had some effect: Obama’s policy descriptions tonight were framed very moderately. From charter schools to late term abortions, he articulated what I consider to be some common ground. Although they weren’t new positions, they haven’t gotten a lot of play, so those may help undecided voters worried that he was radically left.
All in all, I have to call this for Obama.
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