Delay-Blogging the Presidential debate.

Now that I have a DVR, I never watch live TV live. I always wait so I can fast forward through all the commercials. In a few minutes I will begin Live-delay-blogging the Presidential Debate.

Stay Tuned.


9:38 EST - Since its a 90 minute debate, I'm going to give the DVR an extra 10 minutes head start. I hate it when I'm watching a show and I have to sit through commercials at the very end.

9:45
My TV listings were off. I'm tuning in live, halfway through. I will update with my thoughts on earlier after the rebroadcast.

9:46 O
OK. Obama had a good line with "John thinks the war started in 2007"
Id would point out though we were greeted as liberators, for the first few days.
McCain's response was passionate, but uninspiring.

9:47 O
Obamas rebuttal is wishy-washy.

9:49 M
Both Petraus and OBL agree Iraq is the central front. Great line, though not forcefully enough delivered IMO.
Great response overall though.

9:51 O
Obama seem like hes trying to hard to sound smart. Too many three dollar words.

9:52 O
Hes trying to hit the "Iraq was a distraction from the real threat" and doing a decent job.

9:53 M
Wow. McCain goes back to the 80's and the origins of AlQ. Uses one of Jeff Coopers rules in the debate. Don't threaten what you wont pull the trigger on. Great response.

9:55 O
Obama scored with the "bombing Iran" line.

9:57 O
Did Obama just endorse the Bush Doctrine?

10:00 O
Did Obama actually just say "Ive got a bracelet too"?
And that "no soldiers life is ever wasted if hes following the presidents orders?"
Does he think this in reference to Iraq or Vietnam too?

"You don't muddle through" was good though, but I don't know if it can overcome "Ive got a bracelet too".

10:02 M
McCain hitting the "Ive been there son" and I have to say its effective.

10:03 M
A Nuclear Iran is only a threat to Israel and the Region?
League of Democracies. Not bad,Since its a specific example of the "tough Diplomacy" Obama has promised.But why no mention of Iran's threat to the US?

10:06 O
Iraq has strengthened Iran?Bush policies didn't work? Not a bad tact.
We cant just depend on democracies, we also need Russia and china. Good Point. Isolation hasn't worked. He says it will change but not how.

10:08 M
McCain was weak there.

10:10 O
Good rebuttal by Obama.Hes making a good case for diplomatic isolation not working. His case that engagement works better though is less convincing.

10:12 M
I don't even have a seal yet. Good line.
Not just naive, Dangerous. Good Line.
The North Koreans have broken every agreement they have signed. Trust but verify.
Nicely done.

10:14 O
Obama seems to be on the defensive about his positions a lot. I don't think that's a good sign for him is it?

10:15 M
"we're gonna say "no your not?"
Brilliant.

10:16 O
Does Obama know what "parsing words" means?

10:17 O
Again with what he'll do, little about how.

10:18 O
Good comments on Nuclear proliferation. One of Obamas strengths.

10:19 M
Wow, nice job with hammering home the "naive" meme.
"Two letters, K, G, and a B?"
Nice job, Russia flexing their energy muscle will make people at home think of gas prices.
He also did a god job of arguing Russian premeditation in Georgia.
McCain is doing a great job showing his familiarity with the region.

10:22 O
"I agree with McCain."
"I Object that I didn't Object?"
"I warned about Georgia in April?" can he back that up?

Nice job segueing to Solar, and Alt energy, even though he had to capitulate on offshore first.

10:25 M
"Its hard to get there from here" Excellent job bringing up reprocessing and Storage.
And great job pointing out he voted for the daddy of Obama's bill. Also a good job of not allowing Obama to size control of the debate at the end. When Obama gave up it made him look churlish IMO.

10:26 M
"less than on the day after 9/11"
Pitch Perfect.

10:28 O
Again he begins by echoing McCain, is this a strategy?
He does a nice job bringing it back to Proliferation though.
Obama is Pro missile defense?
Again hes stressing that Iraq is a distraction from the wider WOT. I don't buy that but many do and hes staying on message there.

10:30 M
The "proven" line seems a bit wonky.
I like that McCain is hammering Obama on his lack of support for the surge. Its his strong point.

10:32 O
Obamas doing a good job making his case for Iraq the Distraction. But is he still advocating immediate withdrawal? I cant believe I missed 40 freaking minutes.
OK cost of Iraq = Hard economic times. That's flimsy but popular.

10:34 M
Ok. A nice simple statement that he feels Obama isn't qualified. And going back to Obamas failure to recognise the surges gains. Interesting, hes painting Obama as mentally inflexible. Wasn't that one of the lefts key charges against Bush?
"I dont think I need any on the job training"
Nice.

10:36
Did Obama just imply his dad wouldn't want to come here today?
Really?

10:37
I never thought Id hear a presidential candidate say "when I came home from prison"

Ok afterthought?
I think McCain had a strong win here. I didn't hear the economic segment, since I came it late. But as far as Foreign policy Obama was basically reduced to saying "me too" and "nuhuh I didn't say that"