THE GOOD (not quite great) DEBATERS

The first debate is over and the spin machines are running full out. The hacks are making their absurd claims of total victory. Virtually every scientific poll and focus group so far has Obama with a close or clear win. I'm reluctant to jump on that wagon at this point; although, as a debate coach I can tell you victory is declared by the "judges." Regardless of our partisan perspectives, or even our dispassionate evaluations of the arguments, when the "judges" (voters) vote, then we have a winner. For now I think it is fair to suggest a draw with a slight edge to Obama. I have a feeling over the next day or so, as the analysis filters in, it will evolve into a bigger win for Barack. But, no one is getting a KO here.

I'm not going to walk you through my debate flow. Instead, allow me just a few observations.

I think Jim Lehrer did a great job, except for his odd attempts to get the debaters to go after each other directly. While that might make for better TV drama, direct engagement tends to highlight something other than the issues. Much has been made of McCain's shiftiness and unwillingness to look Obama in the eyes. I wasn't particularly bothered by that during the debate. Keep it focused on the "judges" and the issues, not on personal attacks. But, here's what's strange about that--Obama made more direct contact, but was more issue-focused. McCain avoided direct contact but made more personal attacks. Interesting. Obama seems to come out of that looking more presidential. I do think McCain's squinting, smirking, and general nonverbal disdain for Obama hurt him. Watch the debate with the sound off and Obama wins the nonverbal contest hands down.

As an Obama supporter, I was delighted to see that he has been successfully coached out of the vocalized pause ditch. Virtually no "uhs," "looks," or "y'knows." He was clear and direct. Nice work, debate coaches. I suspect there were many drinking game participants disappointed by McCain's improved rhetoric as well. Only one or two "my friends," and with the exception of his reference near the end, he did not answer every question by connecting it to his POW experience.

I think McCain scored some points in keeping the experience argument alive and continuing to cast Obama as naive. However, there was nothing new here. In fact, most of McCain's best lines were borrowed from his stump speeches. Obama seemed fresh and assertive. He blunted nearly all of those attacks, successfully turned some, but a few of McCain's condescensions and fear tactics (or were they strategies?) may still make their way through the clutter.

On the whole I thought the debate was a success. Neither debater faltered in any signficant way; there were no big dramatic moments or gaffes. I know this disappoints many in the media. But, at the end of the day the debate did what it should. We saw a clear contrast of styles, different governing philosophies, distinct views on the role of government, and a showcase of leadership temperament. The debate helped us make a better decision. Precisely what it was supposed to do.

It was nice to see Joe Biden covering his mate's back after the debate. Where in the world was Palin? Hmm.

REALLY? SERIOUSLY?

I have been preparing myself for the possibility that, while Sarah Palin may be inexperienced, she may still be a formidable candidate and a quick study.

Um.

Uh.




Watch CBS Videos Online


By the way, there's more. I'm being kind limiting it to this single excerpt.

Well, okay. One more.



I'm sorry, but this is UNBELIEVABLE. She is lost. These questions come at her and she is twisting in the wind. She said when the call came from John McCain, she didn't blink. She should have blinked. She should still have her eyes closed, the blink should have been so pronounced.

It seems quite clear that on the subject of the Palin selection McCain was beyond irresponsible. This is ridiculous, that she could be our president in a matter of months. I will not apologize for how pissed this makes me. It's an outrage.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE FAMILY IN NEBRASKA WHO LOST THE SILVER PONTIAC GRAND AM WITH THE SMALL CRACK IN THE BUMPER

We have your car. No, we didn’t steal it. We recently bought it from a car dealer friend who got it from the auction where your finance company sold it after repossessing it. We couldn’t really afford it either, but we couldn't pass it up. My wife and I are teachers and our daughter just started college about three hours away. She needs a car, because even though she has great scholarships, she had to take an off-campus job to help pay expenses. Even though we are struggling to make the bills, we have not had to face what you’ve been going through. We’re sorry.

You can tell a lot from the condition of a person’s car. The Grand Am is really nice. The shape it was in when we got it tells me you are good people. Except for the Happy Meal toy someone lost in the cushion of the back seat, the car was clean and, with the exception of the bumper, completely undamaged. Irresponsible people don't care for their vehicles this well. You seem to be a family that plays by the rules. But the rules keep changing, don’t they? Maybe your child got sick and you had to use the car payments to cover the doctor bills. Maybe mom was laid off when the factory outsourced her job to Asia. Maybe dad couldn’t keep up with the payments because he was sent back to Iraq for yet another tour with the National Guard. Maybe keeping your home or keeping food on the table became more important than keeping your car. Whatever the problems, you are not alone. More of us are facing the same kind of struggles every day.

I understand my words are cold comfort for you. I just wanted you to know that more and more of us out here aren’t too far away from where you’ve been. We don’t know you but we will hold you in our prayers. It is our hope that soon you will get the change you need.

By the way, don’t worry about that crack in the bumper. We took care of it.

It was the least we could do.

THEY'RE COMING OFF, THE WHEELS

The McCain/Palin ticket is going to start losing again. Here's why:

• He doesn't know who the prime minister of Spain is, he doesn't know Spain is not a Latin American country, or he is willing to publicly turn his back on one of our NATO allies.
• She is obstructing an investigation of her alleged corruption in Alaska.
• Conservative columnists say she is inexperienced and not ready.
• The former publisher of the ultra-conservative National Review endorses Obama as the more truly conservative candidate.
• Palin lies.
• She famously continues to lie about earmarks and the "bridge to nowhere."
• Even conservative Alaskans say she lies.
• She refuses to submit to a press conference. Interesting choice in a democracy.
• Oh, Sarah Palin lies a lot.
• The world overwhelming supports Obama (I know we're not supposed to give a damn, but, you know, silly me; I still think it's easier to build peace through diplomacy and dialogue than by killing everyone you don't like). Some in the world are apalled at the Palin pick.
• McCain and Palin both lie.
• His running mate outdraws him.
• He continues to lie about Obama raising our taxes.
• The story that he can't use a computer because of war injuries is a lie.
• Republican senator doesn't think Palin is ready to lead.
• Supporters leave rallies after Palin speaks and before McCain begins.
• Neither of them understands how to deal with the economic crisis.
• Conservative columnist, George Will, seems to think the only good argument McCain has left is that a divided government is better than a Democratic president with a Democratic congress.
• Right-wing policies and calling working families and the poor "whiners" doesn't help anyone.
• The former Republican mayor LA endorses Obama.
• Speaking of California, the GOP seems to be giving it up.
• McCain's ad in response to the Wall Street meltdown is to talk vaguely about "reform" for less than 30 seconds. Obama looks at the camera and gives his specific economic plan for 2 minutes.
• McCain campaign inaccurately uses factcheck.org to make an argument against Obama. Ironic.
• Both campaigns are dishonest, but McCain is The Biggest Liar.

***Update***
Another GOP congressman endorses Obama.

In fairness:

• Obama distorts McCain's taxation of healthcare benefits.
• Obama uses unfair fear appeals in his Spanish-language ad. But, McCain's ad also severely distorts Obama's immigration stance.

• The post-convention bounces are all bounced out. Obama is back up by 5+ points.

And that's pretty much just from the last 24 hours.

I spoke to a man last night on the phone who believes the anti-christ will soon take over the world, God removed his protection from the U.S. when we took prayer out of the schools, and we headed toward moral ruin when we started letting men marry men. Even that guy, by the end of our conversation, conceded that Barack Obama was probably a better choice for our future. I think he's on to something.

OH MY

You must read this.

McCAIN: JOEY IN A 'ROO POUCH

There's something happening here, but you don't know what it is. Is it a new sense of patriotism sweeping the nation? No. Is it a cascade of hope? Nope. Is it the jingle-lingle-ling of change? Is it a stampede of lipsticked pigs? Is it a new wave of spirit-filled laughter? No, no, and no. A colleague of mine calls it the "campaign season of discontent." Barack Obama calls it the "silly season in politics." Things have gotten dirty. And, it's our fault.

Americans regularly say they despise negative campaigning, yet negative campaigns are much more likely to be persuasive. I guess we don't like being fat either, but it doesn't stop us from strapping on the feedbag and scooching down in the couch for another riveting episode of "So You Think You Can Dance?". Negative attack ads are lowest common denominator discourse. And they work. For a while. If we allow them.

The McCain campaign is charting new territory in the depths of their distortions and attacks this past week or so. They will soon make the '04 Swiftboaters look like Boy Scouts. Make no mistake about it, the bulk of the negativity is coming from the Rovian Republicans, not the Dems. If it were balanced there wouldn't be scores of liberals wailing and gnashing their teeth at Obama's failure to come out swinging. And it's not just nastiness, it's flat out dishonesty.

Even Don Sipple, a Republican advertising strategist, argues “I think the predominance of liberty taken with truth and the facts has been more McCain than Obama.”

Matthew Dowd, Republican campaign strategist for Bush, says, “I think the McCain folks realize if they can get this thing down in the mud, drag Obama into the mud, that’s where they have the best advantage to win. If they stay up at 10,000 feet, they don’t.”

Let's agree on something here: politicians twist and distort the facts. Big surprise. Obama's campaign has done it, and I don't like it. You can't win a presidential race without lying. Sad but true. So, it seems that the choice before us is to withdraw from the process, or choose the candidate whose lies are less vicious and less frequent. There's no doubting the fact that I have a dog in this hunt, and that I have picked a side, but that does not change the reality that professional fact checkers (like factcheck.org) have called out McCain twice as frequently as Obama. The Republican response? It's liberal bias in the media. My response? Liars.

Pay attention now. I'm not going to say anything about McCain that is not objectively true here. At this point in the campaign, McCain is the much bigger liar.

It actually doesn't bother me that much when McCain distorts Obama's tax plan, suggesting that it will harm families. I happen to think the analysis relies on flawed trickle-down models, but it is a political argument, and that's fair game. Or, when McCain calls Obama's health plan "state-run" healthcare. It's a naive and inaccurate characterization, but normal for political rhetoric.

However, when McCain accuses Obama of sexism over the lipstick comment--when anyone watching that utterance would know it was not aimed at Governor Palin, and McCain used the same phrase to refer to Hillary's health plan--he's lying, plain and simple.

When McCain runs an ad suggesting the Obama values comprehensive sex-ed for kindergartners, and that he thinks it's more important to teach children about sex than to teach them to read, he's a liar. Obama passed legislation to teach small children how to avoid sexual predators. Kind of ironic.

McCain has reportedly flip-flopped over 75 times in this campaign (Obama has flip-flopped too, but I couldn't find a list), and by nearly all accounts his current communication strategy is to rely almost exclusively on misrepresentation. Seriously, what is John McCain for? All we know from his ads is what he's against: Barack Obama. McCain is a bigger liar than Obama. If that doesn't matter to you, then embrace your nihilism and do what thou wilt, but if it does, then it does.

What does John McCain have left? He's not a straight talker anymore. He's not a maverick anymore. He is an admitted joey in the Bush-Cheney 'roo pouch. He used to be a statesman of integrity. Now, he's the bigger liar.

Oh, and he's a war hero. Um, like John Kerry?

I have a solution for all this, by the way. Since experience has been jettisoned as an issue, let's focus exclusively on the candidates' policy proposals for the future. Let's look carefully at them and try to exam the facts without lying. Are we capable?

****UPDATE****

On Fox News Sunday Karl Rove agrees: "McCain has gone in his ads one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test."

Man, if you're a Republican and Karl Rove calls you out, you know you done gone too far.

LIPSTICK, PIGS, HANK WILLIAMS, AND YOU

Sometimes a person has to find a little diversion to maintain some sanity. This week mine was to write the beginning of a bluegrass song. It goes a little sumpin' like 'is:

You bring the lipstick
And I'll bring the pig
You check my dipstick
And I'll wear a wig
You take my hand
And we'll dance a jig
Oh, honey, you bring the lipstick
And I'll bring the pig

Everybody now.

Write more verses for me now, hear.

PALIN AND DISRESPECT

First read on the speech: Competent delivery of material written by Matt Scully and Company. It was good, if the election were for student body president, but it lacked the gravitas of a VP (likely presidential) candidate. She could be a really good candidate some day.

I may have more analysis of Palin's speech later on, but here's my take on Wednesday night at the RNC: Disrespect. In particular, Giuliani and Palin totally mocked Obama and the sacrifices he made to work with the poor in Chicago. If smugness and mockery is all they have to offer, things are going to be tough for the GOP. This is exactly the kind of thing that drove me out of the Republican party. There were some hard hits on John McCain's record at the DNC, but NO ONE disrespected his character or his service to our country. I guess when you are desperate and losing you do what you have to in order to win. I just hope the old divide and polarize politics does not continue to pay off like it has in the past.

We should all demand more of ourselves, and our leaders.

Progressive and Religious

If you are interested in the intersection of politics and faith you need to read the new book, Progressive and Religious: How Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist Leaders are Moving Beyond the Culture Wars and Transforming American Public Life, by my friend, Robby Jones. He is a former religious studies professor who has been working with political think tanks and high profile religious figures in the DC area for the last few years exploring the changes occurring in contemporary religious movements and political identities. Check out his blog too.