AR, I agree with you today, DLS yesterday. What's going on?

Starting to question McCain's mental fitness

McCain's interviews have become increasingly angry, hostile and unhinged. He seems to be on the verge of some kind of mental collapse. A big part of McCain's erratic behavior is due to Obama having gotten deep, deep, deep inside his head. If McCain's brain was x-rayed, it would reveal Obama sitting comfortably upon McCain's cerebral peduncles. But, it is more than that. I believe McCain's increasing instability is being caused by the stress of the campaign and his 72 year old body not being able to get the rest that it requires to function properly. That isn't ageism—that is a simple fact of life. I wondered how McCain, being in advanced years, would respond under the grueling pace of a general election. I think we are all beginning to find out and it really isn't a pretty site. He is on the verge of some kind of mental collapse.

http://www.progressivedailybeacon.com/?p=1986

The universe (liberals, anyway) expected (and hoped) that Palin would fail miserably, and she did not.

The conventional wisdom, even among liberals, was that she'd do alright because the expectations were so low.

It's a weird chicken or the egg kinda question really. Everyone expected her to do so badly that the expectation then became that she would exceed previous expectations. So what were the expectations!?!? Ahh!

My thoughts, after having watched most of the debate as my poor, pitiful Cubbies got their asses handed to them, is that my view being different was due to one (or more) of a few things.

A. I watched a different debate.
B. The low expectations for Palin are reflected in the opinion she did great.
C. I am a policy wonk-type, more impressed by the grasp of facts (even if a few were twisted by Biden, but hey, this is politics) than by image.
D. My impression of her image during the debate is totally off compared to everyone else. I fully expected every time she talked that she was about to look the camera straight in the eye and shout, “LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!”

I was totally unimpressed, and walked away thinking that those who criticize her as being a lightweight completely lacking in the qualifications for even VP in training, nonetheless President were that to be thrust upon her, have it correct.

Biden showed his grasp of facts, addressed the actual questions asked by the moderator, was coherent in his answers, and showed passion as well. Were it not for the steady bar lowering in the days preceding the debate, I think Biden would be seen as the clear winner. I expect it comes out more or less as a wash. The opinions of many will be in flux over the next few days – pending influence by the pundits and the coming polls will tell us more.

Note the similarity between Palin and McCain — the weakness with sound bites.

Meanwhile, Obama and Biden threaten to be low-life thieves and loser-vote-buyers of the worst kind with trying to get judges to rewrite loan contracts to reduce not only the interest but the _principal_. This was the point where Palin made the mistake of not annihilating Biden and Obama on moral and other grounds and scoring a knockout that Biden _handed_ to her, and the point where Palin ceased to give the stronger performance. (Palin could also have destroyed Biden's use of the “fairness” lie about progressive taxation, actually an appeal to envy and resentment, and in support of a tax policy impossible to succeed at paying for as much government as Biden and Obama seek.) After that loan-contract-change-to-energy exchange Biden stopped being careful or timid. As I also had noted below, the campaign should risk Biden gaffes from now to November because Biden actually got pretty good once he became more animated.

…

Both candidates did okay. The universe (liberals, anyway) expected (and hoped) that Palin would fail miserably, and she did not. During the first part of the debate, she did better than Biden. She made one mistake (changing the subject rather than annihilating Biden about something he and Obama want to do: if I heard right, they want to reduce interest rates and _principal_ on outstanding home loans) and in my view was working to recover that superior position after that, and she didn't do this. Once or twice she did what McCain did that I didn't like to hear (or see), repeat typical sound bites in answering questions. She also failed to take Biden apart when Biden argued that progressive taxation is justified due to “fairness.” It is nothing of the kind, and with the size of government Obama and Biden want, it will simply be impossible to tax those over $250,000 and reduce taxes on everyone else. The amount of income that needs to be taxed to support what the Dems want forces them to reach well down into the middle class portion of aggregate income. Biden probably had begun the debate deliberately in a timid or more accurately, careful and conservative manner but loosened up about the time he made the controversial statement about revising loan contracts and Palin didn't demolish it, and him. As Biden loosened up he began to do much bettter. I know everyone was afraid of Biden saying something stupid, but he didn't, he actually did quite well when he became animated, it's probably now worth the risk to “let Biden be Biden” out on the campaign trail and for the media to begin to cover him rather than avoid covering him to conceal his gaffes from the public (so as to continue supporting the Democratic Party this year, same as every other year). Overall, it was a draw. Both candidates did fine. It's a draw because honest people would have to strain to name a winner. Neither candidate stood out immediately as better and neither one did notably better.

For better or for worse, this was a referendum on Palin. As Biden said, he's been there for 35 years. Everyone who follows politics knows what they are getting, knows he's as qualified as any Dem Senator can be, and he had little to prove. However, there are millions of Americans who do not follow politics and did not already know him, so perhaps he did persuade some of those.