the rix mix

[If a 508 point stock market plummet doesn't snap tonight's debate on topic, nothing can.]

My start page has seven top five headline news feeds & until an hour ago only one was about tonight's presidential debate, BBC. Most of the other headlines suggest what McCain & Obama ought to be discussing. I wonder if McCain will do a "Palin," ignoring the questions & going directly to his agenda, which is smearing Barack Obama.

We would have to be a nation of idiots to accept this smear strategy so late in what has felt like an endless campaign. Sarah Palin was an unknown until a month ago & we still don't really know her. We've forgotten that Barack & Hillary knocked each other around for six months in the primaries. McCain largely received a pass from media because the repug nomination was decided early on & he won it mostly by default, without the Evangelical portion of the party base, & using only his "Maverick War Hero" reputation. So we didn't see McCain pushed by his competition until now. This ugly side would've come to the fore last winter had any of the other repug candidates been able to go mano-a-mano with him across the country. Imagine how much we would've learned from McCain-Giuliani showdown.

For a man who spent five years in a hellhole, McCain is not taking the pressure in stride from a young, supposedly inexperienced politician from Hawaii. Yes, Hawaii. Barack's personality makes sense when he's connected to Hawaii. He's an aloha guy. Chicago toughened him up, made him raise the level of his game. But Hawaii has a Jewish governor; a Chinese, Portuguese & Hawaiian Lieutenant Governor; Japanese-American Senator; a Chinese-American Senator; an Anglo representative; a native-born Japanese rep; a Samoan-Mormon mayor of Honolulu. Obama irrationally infuriates John McCain, & I think it's mostly the aloha part of Barack, his generosity & poise. Barack plays basketball, McCain wants to get drunk & butt heads.

Here's tonight's NCAA Division 1 Debate Drinking Game from College off-the-record:

• When either candidate says “economic crisis,” “tax cuts” or “bailout,” chug to forget you’re poor.
• When McCain says “experience,” drink.
• When McCain mentions “palling around with terrorists,” “Bill Ayers” or “Afghanistan,” take a kamikaze shot.
• When either candidate says “character” or “smears,” drink.
• When Obama brings up the “Keating Five,” take 5 shots.
• When McCain says “straight talk,” take a shot of Jack Daniels, straight up.
• When anyone mentions Sarah Palin, wink, drink, wink. If you forget to wink, drink again.
• When Obama says “change,” drink.
• When McCain says “Who is the real Sen. Obama,” take a shot.

Labels: THE election