Sarah Cyborg and the Doggone Its

This is genius.

So we're gonna start with some debate review, OBVI.

In lieu of a liveblog last night, as you all know, I was enjoying a bottle of Riesling and hollering at the TV. If you're interested in my immediate and somewhat drunken post-debate reaction, you can check out the upcoming podcast of the GeeklyWorldNews, where the crew interviewed me for an on-the-spot analysis. They're a funny bunch themselves and I don't want to give anything away but, you know, I was pretty spectacular. Check it out.

Reliably, the NYTimes gives us a sensible, realistic analysis of the debate: that is, pounding home the fact that despite her largely avoiding ridiculousity she dodged answers and basically gave a performance that would have been embarrassing for anyone without her track record of massive fuck-ups.

Here's hoping this bears some resemblance to how the rest of America responded to the debate...

Phew. CNN's analysis of both the debate itself and general polled reactions show that while people were surprised at how well Quaylin performed, Biden overwhelmingly won the debate. Which is pretty much what I said last night. See Mom? I AM always right.

The Obama camp has already released an ad featuring the part of the debate where iden slams McSame's plan to tax health care, calling it "the ultimate bridge to nowhere." Gotta love it. I'm just waiting for them to release an ad of the moment where Biden pounded on McSame repeatedly and ended with "maverick he is not." For the record, that was the moment that my TV got hollered at the most. In a loving way. When did you guys cheer or jeer at your televisions? If you don't answer the poll, I will start to feel like the only crazy person who yells at the TV, FYI. (Apologies for how much the site hosting the poll sucks. I'll try something different next time.)

What part of the debate made you scream loudest at your TV?
Biden: 'That's the ultimate bridge to nowhere.' (in approval)
Quaylin: * wink* (in fear)
Biden: 'Maverick he is not.' (in approval)
That time Quaylin dodged a question. (just if you were screaming the whole time.)
The 49th time Quaylin used the word 'also.' (in confusion)
Biden: 'Yeah, the past is a prologue, right?' 'I haven't heard how McCain's policies are different than Bush's' x5 (in approval)
The part where the MSM set the bar so low that Quaylin raised it. (in anger)
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WaPo has put together a great collage of their columnists' takes on the debate. All of the blurbs offer something different, but no one's analysis really seems to stray from the conclusion that Quaylin performed shockingly adequately and Biden clearly came out the winner. My favorite quote is from Kathleen Parker, who was most intrigued by Quaylin's sugary down-home performance:

"I had the uneasy feeling throughout that I was witnessing a data dump from a very appealing droid. Even the winks and jaw juts seemed slightly programmed."

That was actually the scariest part of the debate for me. Maybe it was the wine, but I had nightmares last night in which I was thinking to myself "maybe she's not all that bad." THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU! ACK!

I'm over it.

I spoke too soon - from Eugene Robinson:

"Exactly an hour into the debate, Joe Biden began an answer by saying, "Facts matter, Gwen."

To him, maybe. To Sarah Palin, maybe not. The pattern, so far, has been one of Biden presenting facts and Palin countering with… saying stuff. Sometimes she throws in a fact, but mostly she seems to be offering a string of approximate policy positions, encomiums to the American spirit, disputed interpretations of Barack Obama's record and anecdotes from Alaska."

Here's a video of what I thought last night was a real turning point in the debate, accompanied by the snap reactions of undecided Ohio voters. I was chatting with a friend who was stuck at work and couldn't watch the debate, "and at the moment when Biden pressed his understanding of working class families and noticeably choked up as he mentioned the car accident that killed his wife and daughter, I typed "He just won it."

I felt kind of creepy and cynical saying so, but the fact is all that Qualyin had going for her in the debate was her ability to relate to people, hence the repeated winking, the "doggone its" and "darn right, Gwens." And no one can really deny that she lived up to that goal in the debate, even though they were no more impressed by her credentials than they have been in the past weeks.

Meanwhile, no one doubted that Biden would appear confident, competent and professional - and he assuaged everyone's big fear that he would give Quaylin a reason (justified or not) to accuse him of bullying or patronizing her. But the moment where he choked up was key; I don't want to use the phrase he "beat her at her own game" as if there was some insincerity to his emotional reaction. Rather, he caught the McSame campaign in the lie that they have been creating ever since they named Quaylin as VP nominee - the one that says to working-class Americans "we are more like you than Barack Obama or Joe Biden."

The progressive community organizing group ACORN seized on one gaffe Quaylin made last night, when she "incorrectly made it sound like McCain supports giving bankruptcy judges the power to rewrite mortgage payment terms on first homes...He doesn't." (from the ABC News blog)

ACORN seized the slip-up as an endorsement of their efforts and are applying pressure on McSame to change his position. awkward007 at DailyKos has the complete story. Here's hoping ACORN can make a mountain out of this molehill...

ZING! aquarius2001 at DailyKos has a biting, not to mention completely accurate analysis of Quaylin's performance at the debate.

And I'm stealing another great quote from Kula2316 at DailyKos. Douglas Burns at the Iowa Independent on Quaylin's performance:

"For her part, GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin – speaking with the programmed cadence of a GPS navigation system — used forced folksiness to deliver crammed material in the manner of a high schooler looking to score a good grade on a Spanish test. The kid may escape with a B-minus, but he wouldn't be able to order a cup of coffee in Spain a week later."

Undecided voters respond: WTF was I saying? I have to be honest, this does not inspire confidence in the snap poll results.

But the McSames' famous friends always know just what to say. LOLZ of the day go to this little f*ck up.

Most of today's WTF was debate-related, of course, but a few random floaters did manage to get through...

Via BestWeekEver, a pretty suhrious WTF. At least it's well-intentioned...

This WTF might be my favorite of any so far. And I do mean EVER.

And finally, REPRESENT!! Kelly of PA at DailyKos brings us these great picTures and an inspiring story from the Obama rally in Abington, PA today. RENDELLPHIA WHAT!!! I'm just so sad that I wasn't there.

That's all for today, folks...but don't forget you only have a few days left to register to vote!!! This link can tell you everything you need to know about registration. Make sure everyone you know is ready to vote!!!

Peace.