The Third And Final Presidential Debate (Hofstra University)

Hi everybody. Well, that was a quite a change from last week's debate snoozer, huh? This was McCain's last big event opportunity to make his case for occupying the role of Commander in Chief, and I just don't think he succeeded. To be fair, this was undoubtedly his strongest debate performance thus far. I'd even say he dominated Obama during the first third to half of the night. But then his straight talk express went wildly, wildly off track. McCain took the advice of his foaming-at-the-mouth base and confronted Obama about Ayers and ACORN and other nonsense that the majority of the country doesn't care about.

Unsurprisingly, according to snap polls, the strategy failed miserably. Not only did he fail, he revealed himself to truly lack any integrity whatsoever. I believe I've stated on this blog before that I liked the McCain of 2000, even flirted with the notion of voting for him. We might have disagreed on some things, but he was still a good guy. The McCain of 2008 is another story. What he attempted tonight was absolutely disgusting. He has no shame. All he has is an angry base and a pit bull with lipstick.

But enough about diminishing legacies, it's time for those wild and crazy bullet points, perhaps making their last appearance before the big election. Onward we go:

• Bob Schieffer was infinitely better than Tom Brokaw in the role of moderator. I could have done without the distraction issue questions, but I guess those were things that needed clearing up. I loved that he was able to keep control and even press for more specific answers without being thoroughly annoying.
  

• Joe the Plumber (real name: Joe Wurzelbacher) is now the most famous plumber evah!
  

• McCain's strongest moment was when he said, "I'm not president Bush." I could almost see the conservative message boards lighting up.
  

• Can someone please explain to me how Obama agreeing to do town halls with McCain would have stopped the campaign negativity? McCain is basically saying, "I really didn't want to insinuate you're a terrorist sympathizer, but you gave me no choice." What the hell?

• McCain's crocodile tears over John Lewis' comments were beyond pathetic.

• Obama tries to talk about issues important to Americans; McCain wants to talk about his hurt feelings, and even goes so far as to exploit his supporters in uniform. So, so disingenuous.
  

• McCain moans that people say bad things about him at Obama rallies. Please. No one is shouting "kill him!" or "off with his head."

• I think this is when Obama sealed his win of the debate. The look on McCain's face is priceless. And what's with the blinking? Was that a distress signal in morse code?
  

• Obama gave a great answer regarding the abortion issue.

• Memo to McCain: Trig Palin has Downs Syndrome, not Autism. You might want to be sure of the condition before you exploit it.

• McCain's nonverbal reactions and snorting were something to behold. Here's a sampling.
  

• On now to The Best Political Team on Television (TBPTOT), who have eaten their enthusiasm Wheaties. I actually like the robust discussion with all those many pundits. It's a sickness, I know.

• Wolf Blitzer, AKA the Wolfbot, promises us fact-checks. Did I fall asleep? Because I don't remember those.
  

• McCain made the conservatives happy. Bill Bennett even proclaims he'll pick up a couple points from the performance.

• The rest of TBPTOT sings McCain's praises.
  

• I'm sorry, but the people in Soledad O'Brien's dial testing sample group are either unintelligent or just flat out fame whores. These candidates have been campaigning for about two years now and they couldn't be more different. Make a decision!
  

• Go Hillary!

• Snap polls come out showing Obama the clear winner, with McCain even losing some favorable points. Bill Bennett is strangely silent. (Though actually, he might have left. There were a million pundits. Who could keep track?) The rest of the punditocracy start revising original comments; focus on McCain's negatives. I laugh.
  

• TBPTOT reiterates over and over that the poll's samples were made up of more Democrats. A poll of just Independents then comes out, once again showing Obama the clear winner. Pundits stop talking about the Democratic advantage.

• I love, love, love the snap polls. No longer can the talking heads shape public opinion, public opinion shapes them. John King is skeptical of getting the reactions of people who have just watched the debate. Didn't he just watch the debate too? John is apparently skeptical of himself.

• Anderson Cooper asks David Gergen what McCain should do tomorrow. His reply: "Beats the hell out of me." If you've lost The Gerg, you've lost everyone.

• The Magic Map is getting more and more blue. I am currently doing a cautiously optimistic happy dance.

• Rick Davis didn't just dodge the first question in his interview with The Wolfbot, he failed to make any point at all. Seriously, just random sentences strung together. Is Sarah Palin contagious?
  

• Aw, Anderson tells us Jeffrey Toobin's hair was black when this campaign started.

• The Gerg, as usual, makes the best point of the night: Obama doesn't just need to win; he needs to win by a wide margin, so that he has a mandate to govern. Well said.

• And thus endeth the bullet points. Goodbye, TBPTOT! See you on Election Night.