That would obviously have been the killer drinking game line for this evening. (Last week, of course, it was "maverick.")

I was amused how later in the debate both candidates kept talking about what the number one priority for this and that was. Of course when everything's a number one priority it means nothing is. I expect plenty of gridlock for years to come, whoever moves into the Whitehouse.

Huge difference. If you can't run a campaign and give feedback on a bill that you aren't authoring then maybe you shouldn't be President. How can you multi-task on 3 different areas that take funding when trying to fix the current economic crisis?

I didn't take Obama to mean that he was going to ignore the other 2 areas, just that they were going to be prioritized and focused on fixing one at a time.

I don't see how this debate could have been anything other than boring. At least in the first 60 minutes (all I saw before we had to go out) I don't think a single question touched on a topic that wasn't already discussed in the first one.

I know we're supposed to view town halls as somehow probing but the fact is that an audience of average voters just isn't likely to ask very probing questions and with everything pre-screened you aren't even going to get a periodic quack question.

Thank goodness no one said "Maverick".
I lost track of how many times "my friends", "look" (mostly by Obama) and "fundamental" were used.

Also, while it may sound good and seem directed at helping Main Street, but the government simply buying all the mortgages and repegging them at current value is simply a horrible idea. For either end of the political spectrum.

I'm not sure what McCain is thinking with that.

To continue a bit of semantics, JWBear did specify "using 9/11 like they do" (emphasis mine).

Just sayin'.

I was going to put a detailed word in on the "use it for fear vs. use it for unity" question, but I mercifully had something better to do than watch the debate, so I only know the context of McCain's use. So whatever.

"My Friends" annoys me and highlights the informal tone of their campaign along with Palin's "may I call you Joe?".

It reminds me of a parent who is trying to hard to be a friend instead of a parent or leader.