9:29 EDT: [Sean] McCain wussed out. Didn’t say it to his face. Wonder what kind of man Sarah Palin thinks McCain is now. She laid down the gauntlet before the debate.
9:27 EDT: [Sean] Re-maverickize? Now who needs to lay off the sauce?
9:26 EDT: [Nate] I think Obama needed to get a response in there to McCain’s trying to re-maverickize hismelf.
9:25 EDT: [Sean] McCain was strong with his line about Obama should have run four years ago if he wanted to run against Bush. Obama gave a strong answer in reply, citing issues like clean coal, merit pay for teachers, and tort reform. McCain: “unconvincing.”
9:21 EDT: [Sean] Major tongue jut after McCain lied on the $42,000 a year income he claims Obama taxes.
9:18 EDT: [Nate] Big gender gap in the dial tests tonight.
9:17 EDT: [Sean] Tongue jut! But seriously, this is a good strong answer for McCain, even if he continues to lose Iowans.
9:16 EDT: [Nate] ..and I think McCain sold his corporate taxes message pretty well, given that it’s inherently a pretty tough message to sell.
9:14 EDT: [Nate] I’d somewhat disagree. I think McCain seems more even-keeled tonight than the last couple of times around.
9:13 EDT: [Sean] McCain looks like he’s struggling to contain his rage. Maybe it’s the hi-def.
9:12 EDT: [Sean] Joe the plumber is getting a really big ego right now.
9:11 EDT: [Sean] I’m not drunk, just kinda dumb.
9:10 EDT: [Nate] “Confrontative”? Lay off the beer, dude.
9:09 EDT: [Sean] This is gonna be a confrontative debate, you can feel it in McCain’s whole bearing. Eyes blinking like crazy.
9:07 EDT: [Nate] Much stronger start for McCain tonally than in the last couple of debates. But he still didn’t mention “jobs” or “middle class”.
9:00 EDT: [Nate] I’m going to be watching the debate with a number of national security experts. This should be interesting. You get the sense that both sides are quite a bit more tense than in the first couple of engagements.
