1) It was pretty even keel, actually. Not much to talk about, I guess.

2) PBS seems to have that effect on people.

3) I thought it was same ole, same ole. It put me to sleep.

4) I missed it too.

5) Obama won the first half, McCain the second.

The foreign policy debate took 40 minutes to actually get a foreign policy question.

Neither candidate looked strong on the economic crisis question, but I score it for Obama because he matched McCain with the rhetoric.

It's Palin vs. Biden Thursday night. Expect Obama's 3 point Gallup lead to swell to about 5-6 points by then. Palin badly needs at least a tie.

6) Nancy at our ages it is easy for some of us to go to sleep easily. The debate was boring because only candidate acted like he was taking the out come in a profession manner. John McCain won the debate and Barack acted like he was in a dog and pony show.

7) I think each side will feel their candidate won, which of course means I think Obama did awesome. He did not get visibly upset at all, but McCain had some moments where it looked like he was uncomfortable. I'm not sure if McCain once looked at Obama, which seemed kinda childish. I liked that Obama several times talked directly to McCain, while McCain just smiled and chuckled and looked at his podium or the moderator. This is the behavior that made him look uncomfortable.

It also seemed like McCain's advisors had a meeting with him before the debate, hammering home the point to use the phrase "what my opponent doesn't seem to understand..." He probably said that at least 10 times. Awesome.

Several times when McCain was making false accusations about Obama or stretching the truth to misrepresent Obama's position, Obama would interrupt with "that's not true." I was glad to see him not sit by quietly in those situations.

I was watching the debate on NBC. When it was over, they talked with Joe Biden for a bit. Then they said that Palin did not accept her invitation to speak with them, and instead the GOP offered Rudy Giuliani. That dude is a sleezeball in every sense of the word, and it's embarrassing that the actual VP candidate is not able to field questions. Why are they keeping her locked up? If they wanted Rudy to speak for the campaign, why not pick him as VP?

I think the initial excitement of Palin is wearing off, and people are starting to see that there's not much substance there. Then they look back to the top of the ticket to find an old man who has been an embarrassment this past week.

That's why McCain needed a home run last night, and he didn't deliver.

8) I was impressed by Nader personally. He did better than the other two.

9) Keeping her locked up? Do Gibson, Couric, and Hannity mean anything to you? Let's not forget she's been on the campaign trail less than a MONTH.

The initial excitement of Palin is wearing off. Let's not forget, all our our main candidates (Obama, Clinton, Edwards, McCain, Huckabee, Romney, etc.) sounded as general on things when their campaigns first started last summer/fall, so I don't hold it against her. That said, she needs to at least match Biden in intensity. McCain will have to win this race, if they win at all.

10) Looks like we didn't miss much. Matt hosted an awesome Libra birthday party at our place. There sure are a lot of September/October birthdays. People get busy around the holidays I guess :)
Everybody kept saying. "I can't believe you don't have the debate on!" I just needed a break to celebrate with our Charlotte community. I know what McCain and Obama have to say at this point. Do you think the undecided voters are going to make up their minds based on that debate?

11) Biden has given over 80 interviews since he was picked to be Obama's VP. Palin has given the ones you mentioned. Please don't propagate the illusion that Palin is stepping up to the plate. She's not, and it's a shame.

12) I thought it was pretty boring but I did watch the whole thing. Neither one put on a stellar performance but I believe Obama did better. I heard one of the commentators comment on McCain's lack of eye contact and it really did stick out. Mc Cain is trying to ride on his past laurels and I don't think he s pulling it off. He also tends to shoot from the hip before all the facts are together which gets him into trouble. Obama is more careful and doesn't make rash comments before he knows the whole story. I feel for whoever has to take the job come Nov. Talk about inheriting a mess!

13) Joe just made the comment "look who is wearing a flag pin and who is not"

14) Biden has had to step up to the plate because he is still old Washington and his job is to try to axe John McCain; however, he has not been very sucessful. I see him as a Moses to a young lost leader. Palin will do to him the same thing that she can do to a Moose: Kill it,Field Dress It, and Cook It. Old Jope is from Wall Street America, who do you are the biggest employers in Delaware? Every major US Corporation is chartered in Delaware, along with many of the failed banks, and E.I. Dupont. Biden having been a lawyer in Delaware for many years is not squeeky in this corporate mess,either. How do you think he has always voted on Off Shore Drilling? Negative because his corporate owners,DUPONT, owns Conoco Phillips petroleum companies, and Consolidation Coal Company which mines coal in West Virginia.

15) Dave,poll taken by probably strongest biased television station in NC took a poll today: They asked who won and who looked the strongest? McCain won by 10%-12%.

16) What did you think of Palin's interview with Katie Couric?

17) Dannie, I thought it was very, very painful to watch.

18) I agree with Chris Matthews on this one. He said that McCain took control of the debate and won it. He totally had Obama off message, which isnt really surprising since neither candidate got to use a teleprompter. The only negative comment Matthews had about McCain was that he didnt look at Obama. I can live with that.

On a more substantive issue though, the moderator kept asking the candidates where they would adjust their budgets due to the Wall Street bailouts. Obama had no answers, McCain said he would cut ethanol subsidies and look into a spending freeze. Obama looked uneasy in responding because he really doesnt want to cut anything, he just wants to increase the size of government

19) I really think there couldn't have been a better commentator than Jim Lehrer. He kept things on topic and demanded real answers. This was not a fluff debate by any means.

20) Bean, why would I care about the results from a biased local station? This is another example of you leaving out a key word or two, you know, like which way they are biased (since that does seem to matter to you). I can't believe I'm even trying to logically respond to one of your comments.

Like I said, people will think their candidate won. Wasn't ground breaking on either side, and nothing has changed.

The VP debate this week should be a lot more interesting.

21) Was it just me, or did McCain seem to give a "psycho" type chuckle when he seemed irritated??? that kinda scared me a little....eeekkk!

22) I think Dave is right, the VP debate may be really interesting especially after seeing Palin on TV the last few times she has interviewed. Scot and I actually watched most of it after we got home from the gallery. We both think they still are doing general comments and that they came out about equal in the end last night.

23) I agree with what Dave said...Obama supporters think he won, McCain supporters believe he did better. The debate didn't do much for me. Our local NBC news (Chicago) did a poll, 51% said McCain won, 48% said Obama, 1% undecided. Sounds like a tie to me.

24) Bean, I agree with Dave, you have said in past blogs that the area you live in is inundated with backwoods, backward thinking people, so I don't give the local station that you listen to much credit. Furthermore, NC is typically a red state and wouldn't expect any other type of outcome from any polling.

Brian, I didn't see the interview with Hannity, but did see the interviews with Gibson and Couric. They were a trainwreck! This would probably be the most truthful reason for keeping her "locked away" from the press and not letting her field questions regarding the debate last night. I mean really the more this woman talks the less she seems to know (ie-the Bush doctine).

I agree with Dave (again) that there didn't seem to be any clear winners last night, however, Barack seemed a lttle more at ease, gave clearer, decisive answers, and spoke directly to McCain. Which I can't say McCain did any of those things....

PS~sorry to add more, but I had the opportunity to go back and read the other comments....my first comment was a knee jerk reaction! hahaha

25) I watched the whole thing and thought it was interesting. Since I'm an Obama supporter, I'm inclined to see the positives in him and the weaknesses in McCain. So for whatever it's worth, I thought Obama did an outstanding job. He never impressed me much in the primary debates but last night I thought he was on his game. He looked and sounded presidential and as I watched it I felt a tremendous amount of pride that this man could be the next leader of my country. Yeah yeah, cheesy, I know.

I can't wait for the VP debates but it's the SAME NIGHT AS A CUBS POSTSEASON GAME. Whoever planned the schedule is obviously a Cubs hater. It's a rough life.

26) I just don't understand this video documentary at www.eyeblast.tv/public/Video.aspx?rsrcID=2036 on Obama and how people can think all of this is fine and then still be for him? Please give your opinions on this. I just saw it and I am BLOWN away!!!

27) http://www.eyeblast.tv/Public/Video.aspx?rsrcID=2036

28) Palin will need to outperform her RNC speech for it to be a net positive for the GOP. The pressure is all on her, not Biden.

If McCain/Palin lose the election, I will say one plus will be not having to hear her keep talking about, "I-wrack," which bugs me more than "nuculer"

29) As an Obama supporter, I too thought he did well. I felt that McCain came off as patronizing several times, but I could really see how McCain supports would not see that and would see those same instances as good ones for McCain. I agree with most who say it was basically a wash. I am definitely interested in the VP debate.
One thing I realized when watching, though, is that McCain does not utterly and completely repulse me like the current pres. At least when I hear McCain speak, even though I don't agree with most of it, I don't have fight off an immediate need to vommit.

30) GC, I was talking about this with my FIL last night and said the same thing. At this point, I know who I'd like to see in office; however, I'm not going to be completely disgusted with the people of the U.S. if the other candidate is in. Either way seems to be an improvement to me.

31) all I heard was that my home country was mentioned and that it didnt concern peace process nor illegal immigration, how times change.