Noogies in Nashville!!!

3BP is liveblogging the debate. Keep hitting refresh and try to keep up. New posts will come at the top of this entry.

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Summary: No real fireworks. Clearly not a gamechanging debate. What analysts likely will say is that Obama showed how substantive he can be. They will say McCain didn't win. They will say it was boring. And they'd be right.

Is he saving something for next week? Is he confident the current strategy is working? Are internal polls better than what we've seen?

We'll see. But what we know is that nothing changed tonight. But is that as good for Obama as many may presume?

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10:34 - Better finish by McCain. That's the most energy he showed all night.

10:32 - Strong finish from Obama.

10:30 - Props to recognizing your wife, Barack. Chicks will dig that.

10:29 - Another non-answer from Obama. The question was whether you would DEFEND Israel.

10:26 - Nice transition to knock Obama on the 'precondition' point...but he needed to hit that harder.

10:25 - Good question on Israel...to be fair, he is NOT undecided either.

10:24 - Everyone keeps looking down at their questions. I'm waiting for someone to yell 'Bingo!'

10:22 - We've been reactive the past 8 years? Someone may want to have Palin explain the Bush Doctrine to him.

10:21 - LOL! Moral support! "Aw buck up, camper." :slaps Georgia on the back:

10:19 - McCain showing his experience with Russia. Good. But Obama has kept up in the foreign policy debate. Not good.

10:15 - Missed opportunity, John. You're letting Obama get away with false equivalence.

10:13 - Wow. Mocking McCain. How mature.

10:10 - Wow. Where the war will begin and END? That is HUGE. His lack of understanding is frightening.

10:09 - Whoever filtered these questioners was still drunk from the Sarah Palin drinking game.

10:06 - The McCain Doctrine. Nailed it.

10:05 - The Obama Doctrine.

10:02 - Wow. Obama going hard left by bringing up Iraq as a target. Nice set up for McCain.

10:01 - Glad to see we're finally on McCain's best issue.

10:00 - Oh come ON! Peacemakers?!?! Undecided my ass.

9:58 - Round 2 to Obama.

9:56 - Effective answer by Obama. Bringing up his Mom scores points.

9:54 - McCain is bald. Ugh.

9:53 - Is John trying to walk off stage?

9:52 - That's the point. We don't necessarily WANT employer based health care programs. It's about CHOICE.

9:51 - Health care. Lots of ammo for McCain here. Need to nail Barack for the false ads on McCain's plan.

9:50 - Undecided voters are NOT attractive people.

9:48 - Pow. Linked Obama to Bush. Nice.

9:47 - Obama can't keep up with John. Slacker.

9:45 - Investments = Spending

9:44 - McCain seems to be getting on a roll. Great job on the environment question.

9:43 - Anyone asking about "green jobs" is NOT undecided.

9:42 - Good zing by McCain on Obama's Senate middle class tax cut promise. They'll keep hitting that one.

9:41 - Fixing Social Security is easy. Well, that's nice.

9:40 - Holy. Frickin'. Crap. Only a few businesses make over 250k!??!! Please nail him to the wall on that one, John.

9:39 - Annnnnd here come the fireworks.

9:37 - Props to Tom. Thanks for shutting him up.

9:36 - BLAM! Finally nailing the tax/spend/health care issue.

9:36 - Ok, John. America is dumb. And Hoover helped cause whaaaaat....?

9:34 - Obama is pushing HARD to the right in this debate.

9:34 - Mmmmm. Drunk.

9:33 - You forgot to tell us to fill up our tires.

9:33 - Obama wants to drill now? Seriously?

9:32 - Tom, please tell him to answer the frickin' question. Please.

9:32 - Obama brings up 9/11? Boy, thanks. Usually we have to rely on Rudy to do that.

9:31 - GREAT job by McCain...."I'm not going to tell someone to wait..."

9:30 - Tough question on 'sacrifices'. Obama knows how lucky he was to get to answer second.

9:28 - Effective knock of McCain's tax plan. Crap.

9:27 - Health care is making business less competitive? What would socialist health care do?

9:26 - Obama says we have to deal with energy first. Then why delay drilling?

9:24 - "You can work on all three at once." Obama can nail him on that one. "You couldn't even run your campaign at the same time as deal with this current crisis, Senator."

9:23 - Obama's expression looks like he's trying to summon unicorns.

9:22 - McCain has zero energy.

9:21 - Obama is cutting more than he is taxing? No. Frickin'. Way. Wow.

9:20 - Obama playing the blame game. Playing the Bush card. McCain needs to acknowledge fault on both sides and start ripping Obama on taxes. "Right now our economy can't afford Obama."

9:19 - Round 1 to Obama.

9:18 - "Obama's name was not on that letter." Weaaaaak.

9:17 - Glad to see McCain will have last word on this question. He needs a home run.

9:16 - "YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN POINTING FINGERS?" What the hell were you doing for the past two minutes?

9:15 - Lots of early back and forth. McCain needs a good comeback on Obama's response.

9:13 - McCain bringing up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Not sure he communicated that message as effectively as he could have. Seemed stilted.

9:12 - "Thank you, that's an excellent question." DRINNNNK!

9:11 - "Fundamentals" dig by Obama. That's First Blood.

9:10 - George Soros isn't available Barack?

9:08 - Bad followup question. It would be irresponsible for any statesman to name names for a cabinet post. Good for McCain to focus more on criteria.

9:06 - ENERGY INDEPEDENCE?!?! NO! People want to hear specifically about economic policy. BAD start for McCain.

9:06 - Are suits or sportcoats illegal in the south?

9:05 - These economy answers are going to be the most rehearsed of this debate. In other words, this part will be dull.

9:03 - Told ya they'd sound like Fred Thompson.

9:02 - I still think Brokaw sounds like a parody of himself since he 'retired.'

9:00 - Alright. Prediction time. I imagine McCain is going to stay subtantive and stay away from the attacks. I believe they think the formula of Palin keeping on offense is the way to go. That may make for a less than lively debate. Unless we get some juicy questions from the audience....then all bets are off.

8:52 - Aw crap. I just thought of something. All the questioners are gonna sound like Fred Thompson. But not smart.

Seriously, who the hell is undecided this late in the game? What the hell is wrong with you people?!?!?

(sorry...I promise I'm only on beer #1)

8:49 - I highly recommend NOT including instances of "Thanks for your question" or "That's a great question" into your debate drinking game. You'll be passed out before you hear "drill baby, drill."

8:47 - Everyone have their debate beverages and snacks ready? I'm relying on a sixer of Magic Hat #9 and cheetos.