Oh, wait. There’s a debate on!

16 October 2008, 0150 EDT

The third “debate” turns out to be an actual debate. Other than that, no live blogging tonight. Had to finish a midterm for one of my classes.

I may post some general impressions after the debate. My gut reaction now is that McCain isn’t pushing a consistent line of attack. In consequence, his digs at Obama are rebounding to the latter’s benefit by making him look cool, reasonable, and collected.

In some respects, this may prove a real problem for McCain, insofar as it gives Obama a platform to answer the least persuasive ones (ACORN, Ayers) head on. At best, the McCain campaign can hope that the news organizations replay these moments enough to drive them into the consciousness of people who don’t watch cable news channels.

That being said, McCain is much better prepared for this debate than the earlier two. No “Mr. Puddles” moments, but that “Joe the Plumber” thing is going to get him into trouble when SNL and the Daily Show take on this debate.