The repubs have not signed off on this yet. We already know they're willing to do anything to try to win the election, politicize anything, no matter how trivial, cynical, or beyond politics it should be. Wait until the ink is dried and the dust is settled and the details of the plan come to light. Then we'll see how good or bad everyone looks.

of the mccain campaign is now apparent to all but the most foolish and brainwashed. just a week ago -- was it a week, two weeks? it's all a blur now -- the economy was "fundamentally strong" (oops, I actually meant to say "workers"). now that it's politically expedient, we're on the verge of the great depression and folks in washington can't get it done without "the maverick."

wake up!

nothing was final yet.

this is the most bizarre day of the most bizarre week in a long, long time.

wonder what tomorrow will bring?

but are we going to look back on the mccain campaign as being as big a debacle as bob dole 96, or dukakis 88? it's pretty to think so, though it's hard to be so hopeful and have such a sense of humor about it when the world is teetering on the brink.

every day, the prospect of mccain-palin pulling this thing out scares me a little bit more.

This mess is making for some truly strange bedfellows, as well as bed-unfellows, for lack of a better word.

But stop just a second and let gingrich's basic argument sink in: the new deal -- which created the ENTIRE social-economic network

that most of us not only take for granted, but are clamoring for more of, including social security, unemployment benefits, regulation of business, etc. etc. -- is a BAD THING. it LENGTHENED the great depression.

THINK ABOUT THAT.

this is the core belief of the people who have torn down regulation, attacked those networks at every turn, and allowed this mess to happen.

i don't know if they're right or wrong on the current bailout, but do you trust them to continue running the country?

this is when the rose colored glasses really come out. i found myself fascinated by the cnn audience reaction / live scorecard sidebars. clearly people were watching two or three different debates, depending on their affiliation.

what a heartening contrast with the past 8 years to have someone up there who is articulate, can think on his feet, and make sophisticated rhetorical arguments in a succinct and convincing manner.

mccain was not terrible -- but he was condescending and cranky. the "you don't understand" "you're naive" experience meme is the one thread of hope mccain has left. he did a good job repeating and hammering on that. obama did not do enough to counter it with his own sound bite rhetoric.

yet, like seemingly everything else he does, there's a long-term goal, an over-arching narrative, an endgame in sight. this was supposed to be mccain's strong suit, and he fought to a draw, at best. obama knows there is not much left in the ideological tank for mccain, and i think he plans to slowly build up the "presidential" narrative over the next several weeks.

has been whacking him pretty hard, too; most recently Joe Klein called his campaign the most dishonest, cynical one in history -- that's saying something!

it is curious how these msm outlets have gradually morphed from cheerleaders to enablers to passive-voiced whiners to strident critics, all in the course of a few years -- in some cases, a few months.

a lesson in journalism in the modern age, for anyone paying attention.

methinks he's talking about the young lad who's "agreed" to marry bristol.

how hard do you think he's laughing at tina fey's impersonation?

on a broader note, has there ever been a time when comedy has had this kind of impact in the world of politics? SNL, remember, basically shifted the media's attitude towards obama during the primary, and i'm bracing myself for their parody of "you're right, john" from the debate.

stewart and colbert have long made some of the sharpest and most intelligent critiques against the current administration, and now even chris rock and wanda sykes are piling on. might have to go back to ancient rome for this much game-changing ridicule and laughter.

I would've felt the same way about the Mets as you, but this past summer moved to a place where I get every single Mets game. I have to admit, they've grown on me. They have great announcers, a likable team, and they're NOT the Yankees -- easy to forget they haven't actually won anything in the postseason since 1986. I was sad to see them go out like that.

That said, the Mets were dead men walking from the moment Billy Wagner went down. Even if they'd backed into the playoffs, they were toast. For those who were able to see it, we got to witness exactly what happens when a team loses all faith in its bullpen.

The offense starts pressing. That was the real, or corollary, failure. The inability to score runs with a man on third and nobody out in three consecutive innings last week against the Cubs is what killed them. And they scored, what, five runs in the Marlins series? Not getting it done...

I don't give a damn if Obama wins by 3 electoral votes or 50, just so long as he wins. It's disturbing to me that Michigan is still so much in play, a reality I attribute to nothing other than racism in the white suburbs. Obama loses Michigan, he loses the election -- period.

On the other side of things, it's heartening to see Florida and Ohio so tight. Either one of those goes Blue and Obama wins easily.