the ’62 mets had a better bench

Assuming Obama’s lead holds, who will the GOP turn to in 2012?

Sarah Palin? God help us.

Mike Huckabe? He may be the least annoying fundamentalist Christian in politics, but he’s still a fundamentalist Christian. I think we’ve all had enough of that group.

On the plus side, he’s not Mitt “The Anchorman” Romney, who shifts ideologies so frequently he might emerge as a Marxist in 2012. 

Jeb Bush remains a favorite among conservatives, but he might as well change his name to Jeb Wayne Gacy.

As for Newt Gingrich, he’s got too much in common with John Edwards to survive a GOP primary.

There’s always Lamar Alexander. Think plaid in 2012

“the worst debate ever”

Democracy was the loser in last night’s farce. Questions went unanswered and propaganda prevailed. Politico places the blame on the toothless debate commission.

It would be hard to cook up a duller way of debating than the one we witnessed last night. The commission allowed the cautious handlers of the presidential campaigns to negotiate a format designed to limit improvisation, intellectual engagement and truth-telling.

when the professionally indignant attack

They smell blood.

For me, the more worrisome moment of the debate came when McCain told a young, black questioner, “You’ve probably never heard of Fannie Mae.” We were doing play-by-play of the debate on our website and I shouted out, “Why not? Why wouldn’t he have heard of Fannie Mae?”

Would McCain really have said the same thing to an older, white questioner? It seems unlikely.

After making the allegation, Cenk Uygur acknowledges he can’t prove it.

But that was a moment for me that was more loaded with racial possibility than his reference to “that one.”

Must be fun hanging out with Uygur.

“Pass the salt.”
“Need pepper?”
“No thanks.”
“You don’t use pepper?”
“No.”
“I get it. Only white seasonings for you.”

i hate people who allege hate speech

The professionally indignant have a new champion, Leah McElrath Renna. Brace yourself for the most ludicrous accusation of the 2008 campaign:

When McCain uses dehumanizing phrases like “that one” to refer to Barack Obama, he is implementing long-standing military techniques for dehumanizing one’s opponent during wartime. But this is NOT a war, and McCain’s behavior in this context is beyond irresponsible and amounts to hate speech.

from the department of irrational exuberance

Andrew Sullivan is to Barack Obama what Hugh Hewitt was to Mitt “The Anchorman” Romney:

All I can say is that, simply on terms of substance, clarity, empathy, style and authority, this has not just been an Obama victory. It has been a wipe-out.It has been about as big a wipe-out as I can remember in a presidential debate. It reminds me of the 1992 Clinton-Perot-Bush debate. I don’t really see how the McCain campaign survives this.

Please. I agree that Obama prevailed, but overall this was the Oakland of debates: there was no there there. I doubt you’ll see any significant movement in the polls.