How the economic crisis can help Obama redefine the Democrats.

From the The New Yorker, 17 November 2008 post by, George Parker:

…Barack Obama’s decisive defeat of John McCain is the most important victory of a Democratic candidate since 1932. It brings to a close another conservative era, one that rose amid the ashes of the New Deal coalition in the late sixties, consolidated its power with the election of Ronald Reagan, in 1980, and immolated itself during the Presidency of George W. Bush…

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How McCain Lost Himself Before He Lost the Election

Esquire‘s Chris Jones offers his assessment of what causes historians will attribute to the collapse of the McCain campaign in 2008.   Of course there are numerous causes for the McCain/Palin loss to Obama/Biden, but Jones tracks a personality transition following the Republican’s surprising primary victory in New Hampsire.

For Jones, who had extrordinary access to the campaign throughout the primaries and general election, the final straw was McCain’s selection of the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate.

From Esquire.com, posted by Chris Jones, 5 November 2008:

(emphasis added)…Then he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. I’d like to think someone else picked her for him, but how’s that the better option? She represented everything wrong with the Republican Party — the same intolerant elements that McCain had fought so hard against years earlier — and now there she was, smiling on the stage beside him. Historians will no doubt cite the collapsing economy and the legacy of George W. Bush as impossible obstacles for McCain to overcome. But for me, he lost the election when he picked Palin, because he lost the last vestige of his former self…

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When historians expound upon this chapter in American presidential politics, they are going to have an absolute blast analyzing the 2008 presidential debates.

The third and final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain was certainly the most entertaining of the three. However, the most memorable aspects of the debate had little to do with perceived rhetorical punches thrown or landed by either candidate. Rather, it was the demeanor of John McCain that – much to his detriment – stole the show.

McCain’s exasperation with Obama wasn’t worn on his sleeve, but on his face:
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The obviousness of the Arizona senator’s irritation was also betrayed by his audible sighs, bringing back memories of Al Gore’s lack of breath control in 2000 while debating George W. Bush. As Gore lost that debate, McCain certainly lost last night.

While the third presidential debate may have been an improvement for John McCain, his enhanced performance had more to do with him being seated behind a desk rather than the content of his arguments. Being seated prevented McCain from awkwardly wandering around the stage as he did during his second face off with Barack Obama.

Who looks more presidential?

I urge you, don’t take my word for it that Obama won. The “read more” link below leads to the October 16, 2008 Americablog.com post, aptly titled by John Aravosis: McToast. The post consists of blurbs from the Detroit Free Press, Des Moines Register, Duluth News Tribune, Columbus Dispatch, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, NY Post, Boston Globe, LA Times, NY Daily News, TIME, Washington Post, Newsweek, The Hill, Politico, & NY Times. All declared Barack Obama the victor.

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Key points from the debate on 10/7 for those who missed it, or want/need a recap.

Raw Story has provided a succinct set of highlights from last nights debate along with a couple of CNN video clips.

From the October 7, 2008 Raw Story post:

Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Obama (D-IL) sparred on issues such as government spending, war, the environment and health care Tuesday evening at the second presidential debate at Nashville’s Belmont University, moderated by Tom Brokaw…

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Truism: If it weren’t for John McCain, it would be known as the “Keating Four.”

The Obama campaign’s 13 minute documentary regarding the Keating 5 scandal and John McCain’s involvement.  Download a better quality video at Keatingecomics.com.

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