In Case You Missed It. . .

Last night's Saturday Night Live's send-up of the VP debates was priceless. Joe Biden came in for some good satire ("God love him, but [McCain's] a raging maniac"), but Tina Fey was again brilliant in her dead-on impression of Gov. You Betcha. The biggest sustained laugh seemed to be when Fey/You Betcha said "I believe marriage should be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers." Her closing statement - - where she began playing a flute as if in a beauty pagent's talent competition - - was also hilarious (she repeated "maverick" for the umteenth time, "for all of you Joe Sixpacks playing a drinking game"). SNL is the best part of this election season.

The Ambitious "Maverick"

Frank Rich's column in this morning's New York Times is a chilling review of Gov. Who?'s overwhelming ambition and cluelessness. With McAncient's health a rising concern (he won't allow his medical - - or mental health - - records to be examined in detail), no one discounts the real possibility that he could die in office. Someone who was mayor of a town of 8,000 in Alaska only 22 months ago has convinced herself that she could be President from day one, and her abundance of ambition should worry everyone. But the wingnuts love it. They're willing to ignore her complete unpreparedness, her sloppy thought process, and her running of the Governor's office to reward friends and punish enemies.

"Country First". Riiiiiight.

Buh Bye, Juice

Thirteen years to the day that he was outrageously acquitted for murder in the deaths of his wife and Ron Goldman, O.J. Simpson was convicted on all counts, including kidnapping and burglary, stemming from an incident in Las Vegas last year. He could be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison (here's hoping).

Most people believe that he was clearly guilty of the murders, for which he was later found responsible in the civil suit brought by the Goldmans. This won't bring Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman back, but it will be a little comforting if he spends the rest of his life behind bars.

The Palin Debate Schematic

If you missed the Biden/Who? debate last night, Daily Kos has this helpful schematic to assist in parsing Gov. Who?s "debate" style.

(h/t to San Francisco correspondent Shauna)

Quote of the Day

Comedian Robin Williams, appearing at a USO fundraiser in DC, commenting on Obama vs. McSame:

"It's like the Fresh Prince versus Fred Mertz."

McLame Pulling Out Of Michigan

Sen. Maverick McLame's campaign has decided to close its offices and cancel its advertising in Michigan, with his poll numbers tanking after his erratic and losing performance over the financial rescue plan. Michigan has one of the highest foreclosure and unemployment rates in the country, and they don't see any difference between McLame's policies and Dumbya's.

McLame has to put more resources into states that went for Dumbya in 2004, like Virginia, Missouri, Ohio and Florida, which means he's playing defense in what were red states. Not a sign of confidence. In the roughly 4 weeks remaining, the desperate McLame campaign will kick out the stops and get their smear machine back in high gear. It's all they know how to do well.

Last Night's Debate

The windy conditions that Americans woke up to this morning was the Rethuglican political establishment's exhale of relief that Gov. Who? didn't blow the debate. She didn't answer some questions or gave answers that had no bearing on the question, but she kept going and grinning through as if she was pumped with a mood enhancer, tossing off some "you betchas" and "doggone its" along the way. Didn't she look like a peppy cheerleader running for class president of Moosejaw High at times? Most of her responses sounded like they'd been prepared and rehearsed, but she managed to get them off with a mininum of stumbling.

Both the CNN and CBS polls after the debate showed that Sen. Biden clearly won the debate in the eyes of the viewers; CNN had him winning 51 to 39 percent, and CBS had him winning by an even larger 46 to 21 spread. As for readiness to be President, a whopping 87 percent said Biden was, while only 42 percent said Gov. Who? was.

Biden was pitch perfect in his staying on message, providing a commanding and passionate presence on stage, and avoiding any awkward or sexist moments. When he choked up talking about the tragedy in his family over 30 years ago, you knew what he meant. By centering on the middle class and what people "talk about around the kitchen table" he connected with the swing state voters who are feeling the huge economic pinch now.

The Veep Debate

Tonight's VP debate may not produce any memorable moments ("You're no Jack Kennedy"), but most observers have set Gov. Who?'s bar for success pretty low. Her handlers have been with her at McMoneybags' estate in Sedona to prepare her, but it will be a challenge. She's not able to string a coherent sentence together under pressure (as opposed to reading a snappy speech to a friendly audience), as everyone is seeing in her interviews with Katie Couric, and earlier with Charlie Gibson.

Most likely, Gov. Who? will have a half-dozen or so zingers that she'll hope to land on Sen. Biden, but do most Americans want a goofball or a someone qualified for the office? (Never mind, Chimpy was elected twice). But the polls are saying that 51% of Americans now view her as unqualified, a complete turnaround from right after the Rethuglican fib-fest in St. Paul. We'll see if she fools anyone tonight.

Kathleen Parker, Wingnut Javelin Catcher

Blue Texan has an appropriate reaction to this morning's op ed by wingnut warrior Kathleen Parker in the WaPo (still another reason to cancel the Post, brother Hackwhacker). Parker complains today about the vicious reaction she's received from Rethuglican knuckle-draggers in response to a recent column questioning Sarah Who?'s manifest unreadiness for the Vice Presidency, and her call for Who? to withdraw from the ticket.

I believe the quote that's fitting here is "if you lie down with dogs, you should expect to get up with fleas."

(Photo: National Review/WaPo's Kathleen Parker, about to feel the itch, if not the javelin.)

Wealth You Can Believe In, My Friends

Take the tour: One of McMoneybags' 7 homes is up for auction. This one has a mere 13 bedrooms, 14 and a half baths, 10 fireplaces, a wine tasting room, a six car garage, and swimming pool with several fully equipped bar/grills. A 15,000 square foot home on 2.7 acres.

Not surprising that he never said the words "middle class" in his debate with Sen. Obama.

Polls Show Obama Picking Up Speed

In separate polls conducted September 27 - 29, Sen. Obama is increasing his lead overall, and notably in three battleground states (Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania).

The Pew Research poll shows Obama with a 49 to 42 point lead nationally over McSame, while the Quinnipiac poll shows Obama leading in Florida, 51 to 43, in Ohio, 50 to 42, and in Pennsylvania, 54 to 39. Great news, but the only "poll" that matters is on November 4.

Quote of the Day

"House Republicans led the way and will get most of the blame. . .If this economy slides, they will go down in history as the Smoot-Hawleys of the 21st century. With this vote, they've taken responsibility for this economy and they will be held accountable. The short term blows will fall on John McCain, the long term stress on the existence of the GOP as we know it." - - conservative columnist David Brooks, writing today in the op-ed of the NY Times on the failure of the financial bailout legislation.

Rethuglican Treachery

Reports are swirling that the Rethuglican National Committee sent ads to the media on Monday morning - - before the failure of the bailout vote - - wrongly presuming the bill would pass the House. It didn't, of course, and the Rethug message in the ads was clearly "the Dems are at fault", wasting your taxpayer dollars. They assumed that the bill would pass with few Democratic dissenters (not true), and that most of the Rethug votes would oppose the bill (true, despite McLame's bragging that morning that he had "won" the day - - oops!). In other words, instead of trying to resolve the crisis that their laissez faire, cut-the-regulations financial policies had brought about, they chose to lay back and let the Dems try to explain why this had to pass, ugly as it was, to save the financial and credit markets.

Now the question is how deep and how long the coming severe recession will be. It shouldn't be about who is to blame.

Political Training Wheels

It looks as though Gov. Who? won't be doing major media interviews without her chaperone, Sen. McLame. Noticing that evil, mean ol' Katie Couric drew some catastrophic material out of his running mate in recent interviews, McLame decided to accompany her and make sure she stayed on the maverick reservation and was defended from mean ol' Katie. Imagine (shiver) if she became President and had to face down those real meanies Ahmadinejad or Kim Il Jong. She won't just be able to read off of a teleprompter.

This is what political training wheels look like.

Missing In Action

Last week's McClown charade, where he "suspended" his campaign (only to appear on every network and cable outlet) to parachute into Washington to help negotiations the economic rescue plan (about which he knew nothing), only to see the negotiations stall on his arrival (and restart Friday when he decided the game was up). . .well, you get the idea. And where was McClown during the tense negotiations Saturday night? Politico has the answer:

"As his colleagues worked the deal at the Capitol Saturday night, McCain and his wife, Cindy, dined with Sen. Joe Lieberman and his wife, Hadassah, at Cafe Mozu inside Washington's Mandarin Oriental Hotel."

So while his colleagues were chowing on pizza and Five Guys burgers, McClown was away from the battle, with his number one sycophant and whisperer of facts, Joe Lieberliar, dining in a four star hotel. Such leadership!

(photo: "I don't think the oysters on the halfshell were fresh, Cindy. . .mmmfffff. . .bleaaaah")