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I’m not the most political animal. I like to think of myself as the uncle who naps and wakes up only to scold the kids when they’re out of control.  The situation right now in our country is out of control.  For this reason, these debates are the first I’ve ever watched.  Usually I cast my vote and go back to sleep but this time I feel we cannot afford to do that.

All this to say that last nights debate was interesting on many levels. I was expecting a lot of who shot john and nothing spectacular but what surprised me was the buzz afterwards that McCain has lost the debate for a list of reasons.  Whether it was not shaking Obamas hand and seeming extra cranky and taut or whether it was not remembering a Black audience members name when asked a question by him and further insulting the questioner by saying you’d probably never heard of Fannie or Freddie Mac before this!

I also make a point to watch both sides of the fence when it comes to journalism.  I don’t want to live in the kind of bubble that our current President lives in.  One where you only hear things that feel good and make sense to you.  This is what has gotten us into our pickle.

One way to get both sides of the political spectrum imbued in the debate was to watch it on current tv.  This channel aired the debate as everyone else did, but put Twitter users messages on the bottom. These messages ranged from humorous to scholarly but did a good job of exposing viewers to all types of opinion.  Also, I watched the raw twitter feed on http://elections.twitter.com This gave all the messages that were submitted not just the ones cherry picked for airing by current TV and their Hack the Debate channel which aired on cable providers all over the nation as well as on the internet.

It’s now the morning after.  As I said, I read and look at it all, even columnists that I wish I could spend an hour trying to understand how they could be so OFF.  One of these people is Michelle  Malking.  I cannot abide by much of what she says because it seems, like Bill O’Reilly, that her shtick is to be as extreme as possible to get attention.

One of the little gems that McCain announced during the debate yesterday was this idea that if elected he would put the government to work buying up peoples mortgages and giving them reduced debt on their homes to ensure they stay in them.  Well knock me over with a feather?!!?  McCain, the republican candidate is basically saying that all the folks who are now upside down in their mortgages need government help?  This coming from the candidate that just a few minutes later was railing against increased government spending?  It makes no sense at all and to support this, a number of Republican columnists are jumping on his back and railing against this idea.

Enter Michelle Malklin into the fray.  She writes:

I can’t underscore enough what a rotten idea John McCain’s ACORN-like government mortgage buy-up is. I said it during my liveblog. And I’ll say it again: “HE WANTS TO EXPAND THE BAILOUT. He wants to do what ACORN wants to do. We’re Screwed ‘08.”

This coming from one of the most extreme voices in the Republican media.  I think McCain attempt at giving aid to those impacted by the extreme downturn in real estate is going to turn the tide clearly against him into a tsunami.

Encouraging for Obama supporters but as a twitter user pointed out last night.  Don’t stop working for our candidate yet.  As you’ll recall Gore looked to have a nice lead going into polls during his race against W, and we all know how that race ended.  That race ended and the last 8 years of our spiral downward started.

So I’ll repeat this important point, just because it looks like McCain is headed for defeat doesn’t mean we can let up on the efforts we’re making to get Obama elected.  It aint over til it’s over!

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Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Bill O'Reilly, Current TV, Freddie Mac, John McCain, Michelle Malking;, Michelle Malklin;, real estate, Republican Party, twitter