Wednesday October 8th - Day after the debate diaries and commentary from around the ethersphere

What a screamer last night's debate wasn't. It had been billed like a classic prize fight, we'd been told that McOlden was gonna come out swinging, this was gonna be a game changer. This was gonna be McNasty in his element in the famed town hall format (town hall meeting my arse), the young pretender wouldn't stand a chance he was gonna be found out by a few searching jabs. The old campaigner was gonna float like a hoveround power chair and sting like an STD, the way they’d spun this thing it seemed all McBitter had to do was show up, but alas, as we’ve come to expect from the McRubbish campaign, it was all less than straight talk.

All we got was the same bitter stumbling old man, remember how McNasty had turned off voters by refusing to look his opponent in the eye? well I wonder what voters will make of ‘That One‘.

Here’s a few other opinions....
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From Sara K Smith at Wonkette

Substantive, Civilized Debate Disappoints

Seriously, what was up with that super boring debate last night? John McCain was supposed to call Barack Obama a terrorist pal, and then Barack Obama was supposed to say “Hey man that is just wrong” and rip off McCain’s testicles and sauté them gently before feeding them to Tom Brokaw with un sauce béarnaise which is precisely how an elitist is supposed to confront a grizzled old war hero in a Town Hall. Instead we got a lot of respectful disagreement, which was dull. Sure, the reaction last night was bad enough. But witness this morning’s sad collection of headlines:

• Brokaw Off His Game in Debate Snoozer


• Downturn in Decibels, Too


• In a Stifling Town Hall Debate, the Tie Goes to the Front-Runner


• Gnawingly dull debate won’t halt the Obama Tide


• A dull debate, but narky old man McCain struggles after insulting Obama as ‘That one’


• Barack Obama wins second presidential debate over John McCain in a snoozer


• McCain wins (narrowly) a boring debate

John McCain has one more chance to show America he’s a steady hand at the tiller, my friends, and that means one thing: next week’s debate will feature something filthy involving Reverend Tony “Rezko” Ayers getting mauled by a moose, or else “that one” will probably definitely be president, unless Florida votes Republican.
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From Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

Debate Moves Undecided Voters

Democracy Corps had a focus group of undecided voters in Nevada watch last night's debate:

"Unlike the first debate, when Democracy Corps research showed half the voters remaining undecided and the two candidates splitting the other half, the vote following the second debate showed a decisive shift toward Senator Obama. This debate was a clear victory for Obama who made major gains not just in the vote but also on personal favorability and key attributes like 'has what it takes to be President,' which ultimately drove undecided voters into his column."

In addition, Fox News and CNN focus groups of uncommitted voters also said Obama won.
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From Steven R's Diary on today's The DailyKos

Gallup Explosion!!! Obama 52!  McCain 41!  +11!

Is it over?  you decide...  Check out this!

Obama: 52%  (51%)
McCain: 41%  (42%)

Nearly all interviews in today's report were conducted before Tuesday night's town hall style debate in Nashville. Any movement in voter preferences as a result of this debate will be apparent in coming days.

Voter preferences seem to have stabilized for the moment, as Obama has held a double-digit lead over McCain in each of the last three individual nights of polling.

This is in stark contrast of the bullshit that Hotline is trying to sell (claiming a tie among men = 1% Obama win) and Zogby, who shows Obama +12 among Independents, and just as strong among partisans, yet only up 3 nation wide.

Gallup has earned a long strong reputation, and today's polling confirms that this election is really headed in one direction...

The best news? This is ALL BEFORE yesterday's debate!

Also from Gallup, voters believe that Obama's economic plan is a net plus.

Forty-three percent of voters say Barack Obama's economic and tax plans make them more likely to vote for him, compared with 30% who say this about John McCain and his plans. In fact, more voters say McCain's plan for the economy and taxes makes them less likely to vote for him.

Most voters say the candidates' past positions on the Iraq war will influence their vote. In general, voters tend to view Obama's past Iraq war opposition as a plus -- 43% say it makes them more likely to vote for him, tying his economic plan as the voting factor making the biggest positive contribution to the Obama candidacy. With this positive endorsement of Obama's war opposition, it is thus not surprising that McCain's support for the decision to go to war in 2003 is viewed as more of a drawback in voters' minds.

The surge talking about the surge isn't working...