The Hollywood Liberal

Veterans office investigated
Watchdog group looking into whether claim docs were mishandled.

Afternoon rally on Wall St. over falling oil prices
Afternoon rally on Wall St. over falling oil prices

ONE FOOT IN

Bonus Quote of the Day
“There’s no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area.”

— Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), quoted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Nonetheless, Murtha thinks Sen. Barack Obama will win Pennsylvania, “but I don’t think it’s going to be a runaway.”

Late Late Nite FDL: Conspiracy To Riot
Sage Francis “Conspiracy to Riot”

Sage Francis “Conspiracy to Riot”

Music guaranteed to irritate Larue. Lyrics and video guaranteed to irritate all of us.

What’s on your mind tonight?

The Lee Atwater Story: Meet the Man Responsible for Karl Rove and the GOP’s Hate-Driven Politics
A new documentary by Stefan Forbes shows the origins of the GOP’s playbook — the manual of scare tactics on which McCain’s campaign is based.

Conservatives Push Hard for Gay Marriage Ban
An influx of cash from the Religious Right has boosted the campaign for Prop. 8, pushing the anti-gay measure dangerously ahead in the polls.

Overconfidence: A Sermon on Not Picking Your Cherries Until They Hatch
Like every other breathless cosmopolitan whose veins pulse with red-white-and-blue blood (the world being at stake and all), I start the day at the keyboard, trying to put a floor under my worry, hunting excitement, relief, or both, with Pollster.com…

The Whole Debate in 90 words
Barack Obama likened John McCain to George W. Bush. McCain pointed out that he is not George W. Bush and insisted it’s important we learn the full truth about Obama’s associations with a “washed up terrorist,” starting with the untruth…

Tonight’s Debate Brings Opportunity For Intense Confrontation
Here’s a quick run-down on the rules for tonight’s debate, the final such meeting between Barack Obama and John McCain. The rules are the same as their first debate. The moderator, Bob Schieffer in this case, will pitch a question…

Lurita!
Oh, how we missed Lurita Doan! No cookies on the table. No memory loss. No private sass. Never before had the chief of the General Services Administration drawn such attention, and maybe never again. So bad was her performance that…

TPMtv: It’s the Surge, Stupid
If you’re desperate to be John McCain’s vice presidential nominee, you better get on TV and start talking up the Surge as the single most important issue in this year’s presidential campaign. And if you’re serious about getting picked it…

Final Debate Thoughts

1. McCain appears to have lost the debate, not on points but on presentation. I never thought the whole “anger” line would go anywhere, but that’s because I assumed McCain wouldn’t be so undisciplined that he would continually feed the perception.

To be unable to maintain composure for (any!) 90 minute debate — aka job interview — lends an impression that you don’t have the temperament for a high-pressure job.

2. McCain’s biggest substantive mistakes were his dismissive attitude towards women who need late-term abortions to protect their health (Clinton holdouts were already moving toward Obama, that just sealed the deal), and his defiant embrace of our current global trade strategy (so long Rust Belt.)

3. Post-debate spin can be more important than first impression insta-polls. It so happens that the insta-polls have shaped post-debate spin so far this year. (McCain has been unable to gin up any phony stories to spin afterwards.)

But “Joe the Plumber” could change that. He is obviously right-wing, but has now been set-up as Mr. Middle America, and will get a good 24 hours of coverage tomorrow.

One thing of note: while Joe told Obama he was planning to buy a business that makes more than $250,000, he told CBS last night that as of now he makes less than that, and would not receive a tax increase under Obama’s plan. He simply expresses a baseless fear that the $250,000 threshold for a tax increase would drop to $100,000.

Not right now at presently, but, you know, question, so he’s going to do that now for people who make $250,000 a year. When’s he going to decide that $100,000 is too much, you know? I mean, you’re on a slippery slope here. You vote on somebody who decides that $250,000 and you’re rich? And $100,000 and you’re rich? I mean, where does it end? You know, that’s–people got to ask that question.

Well, it ends at a place called democracy, where politicians propose ideas during campaigns and people vote on them. And if they break their word you can vote them out.

After seeing focus group data like this, where people believe the worst about Obama and plan to vote for him anyway just to have change, it’s doubtful that 24 hours of Joe can upend the race.

But he can do more for McCain than McCain could.

Trailing in Polls, McCain Looks For an Opening in Final Debate

Debate Comes to an End
After weeks of economic upheaval and a day that brought another precipitous drop in the stock market, Sens. John McCain (R) and Barack Obama (D) began their final presidential debate tonight with a fight over their housing rescue plans that soon veered into a heated exchange over which campaign h…