Rex Kickass

Didn't Perot do that a few times in 92? I remember 30 minute Perot infomercials.

I won. By flying to London instead of watching the debate. Screw you current events!

I don't think that this is really a very big deal.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 05:03 PM) LINK You can't blame a candidate for not reacting to one crowd member at a rally. There's a very good possibility that he may not have heard the heckler or knew exactly what he was saying. The video, though, does look bad - but you can't fault McCain for this. However, the tone of the McCain/Palin rallies I've seen for the last few days have been ugly and nasty. And I mean foaming at the mouth ugly. Frankly? I hope that vision is just media bias showing through - because if it isn't, that's legitimately scary.

Although we are okay with cross pollination of partisan threads, we are strongly recommending that squabbles about the merits of one candidate over another be directed at the General Election thread. Thanks.

The rules favor Obama's position in this case. Questions are prescreened and preprepared. Mikes are cut off by the audience members so that no follow ups can be asked, and Brokaw can't challenge either candidate, and neither candidate is supposed to be able to challenge the other either. So this event may end up being extremely boring and with little to change the outcome.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Oct 7, 2008 -> 11:51 AM) When this meeting took place at Ayers' house, was Obama teaching at the U of C? The fundraiser took place in 1995. Obama began lecturing at the University of Chicago in 1992.

QUOTE (KipWellsFan @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 08:34 PM) You are right to a large extent. I think the Obama campaign has greatly benefited from staying positive for so many of those early months in the Democratic Primaries. And the Obama campaign seems to have made sure that they were always a little less negative than Hillary's campaign then and John McCain's now. Or that's my perception at least. That's pretty much what I mean. You can be mean, even in a positive campaign - but only if your less mean than your opponent.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 06:40 PM) and then say "but....." Because there's a lot of buts. The vast majority of Obama's attacks on McCain have been substantive policy-based differences. Do I think the Obama campaign has run a crystal clear campaign with nothing but happy thoughts? Absolutely not, but if I had to compare the campaigns, smear for smear, I think you'd find the McCain dirty playbook to be quite a bit thicker this year.

QUOTE (Soxy @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 04:09 PM) I think even the dems on the board would agree with that. Right Rex? You don't know the half of it!

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 03:42 PM) i know obama supporters will write this off just as some fluke. but this is a serious issue. It's a serious issue that cuts both ways. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail...ml?hpid=topnews http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012549017 Should the rules be changed? Probably. But to sit there and pretend that only one campaign is having fundraising legality issues is somewhat disingenuous.

I think the argument about Palin's per diem that's being made is that if you are shuttling between residences to do your work, you can't be reimbursed for any per diem expenses without declaring it as income, because you can't deduct expenses brought about from living at home.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 07:44 AM) Dodgers' theme song for this year is "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. Hard to imagine Torre rapping in the clubhouse, but he's a way cool, laid back dude. Gotta give him righteous props for running the Manny Circus and keeping that train from going off the tracks. That's a dangerous team right now...and I would NOT be shocked to see them make it to the WS now. Maybe, while they're feeling generous, they should donate Brad Penny to Cooper for him to be straightened out. That's a hot choice. So the Dodgers do pack and deliver like UPS trucks.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 10:03 AM) If they are reimbursements, doesn't that imply that they are paying them back for money they spent? That would not be taxable then. But reimbursements are only not taxable if the expense is tax deductible.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Oct 5, 2008 -> 11:49 PM) The Obama campagin should sit back and point out the pettiness of all this. s*** is hitting the fan and all the Republicans care about is smearing. That's sort of what Kerry tried in 2004 when it came to the Swiftboat stuff. It's great to talk about being high minded when it comes to campaigning, but the truth is raw negativity can work, and if you don't fight back, you can get seriously damaged. As to how long this stuff will fly, it all depends on whether or not McCain can get any traction from it. I get the feeling that Obama won't press his negative attacks if McCain won't. Because, in that sense, he's playing the role of a traditional front runner - choosing to challenge his opponent more or less on issues than character. It will be both interesting and sickening to see how this plays out.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Oct 5, 2008 -> 06:18 PM) Frank Caliendo imitates everyone but is incapable of looking anything like anyone. Looks nothing like Bush, nothing like DeNiro. Barkley maybe. I can't figure out who half of the people he's imitating are supposed to be.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 07:55 PM) I've used thousands of dollars of per diem, and never once have I reported it as income, or even thought to. I think the reason the Per Diem needs to be declared is because her residence for tax purposes is the Governor's residence in Juneau. So any per diem or reimbursement she would receive for travel to and from her family home from her tax home is not deductible and therefore considered income, if I understand it right. Because you can't claim a deduction on traveling from one residence to another.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Oct 4, 2008 -> 02:31 PM) I don't mean the financial crisis, I mean the actions of Congress on the bail out. From Paulson, to the House voting it down when they did, and then to the "compromise"... the entire process was orchestrated and shennanigans. The message was for John McCain to get the hell out of Washington and welcome RSO to the Big House. It was also a move to "socialism" - and I use that in quotes because I want to explain myself further when time permits. Back to work (the slave to the government that I'm becoming). You honestly think that 20-30 House GOP members flipped their vote on this to get Obama elected?

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 12:15 PM) My upcoming shows 10/17: Broken Social Scene (the blue note) 11/2: Stephen Malkmus 11/3: Ted Leo Rx, Titus Andronicus (blue note) 11/7: Wolf Parade and so I have to ask 10/8: Jay Reatard is playing at mojos, or should I see pinback? I thought Ted Leo and Rx were great when I saw them this summer. He plays really really fast live.

They had beer in a boot at this german place I went to. The boot fit two liters of beer. This was after my first liter of beer. I feel very german right now. jawohl, die lederhosen ist sehr schon und ich glaube ich mag lederhosen bitte sehr.

I said people watching baseball won, for the record.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 3, 2008 -> 12:34 PM) Ah the completely overbroad comeback. At least I was limiting it to this specific issue. I'm just saying that liberals somehow think the two are consistent: 1) Obama won the first debate because he put together two complete sentences regarding international policy. 2) Palin lost big time even though she was supposed to come out drooling and wetting herself for 1.5 hours but didn't. Obama won because he looked calm and unflappable on stage. McCain on the other hand had problems making eye contact and came off as condescending. He held his own on international policy questions, at time providing a better argument than McCain. This was McCain's field of expertise. Palin won given the expectations set by the McCain camp, and not making any really stupid mistakes. But Biden also did well, and also won. If there is a situation where you can have two winners in a debate, you had it here. I think Palin took the first half of the debate fairly convincingly, but Biden scored on international issues (which was expected) and felt really really sincere when he talked about his family (which was not.) People seem to connect more with the Obama/Biden ticket this year. This doesn't take anything away from McCain/Palin. The truth is, that this year just isn't their time. Unfortunately for McCain, his time was 2000.

Palin won in that she didn't appear like an idiot on screen. She was creaming Biden in the first half hour, because she was perky and cute. Biden looked a little shaky at first, and not telegenic. As the evening progressed, I think Palin got old because she didn't actually answer anything, and felt like she was reading from a script. Biden won in that he didn't look patronizing and he didn't say anything ridiculously stupid on stage either. He has a good command of the issues and I think really connected when he talked about his family's challenges. I didn't know he hung out at Home Depot though, that was interesting. In the end, they both kinda won. Which means McCain lost. Because every opportunity that slips by to have Obama derailed make it less likely that he can catch up.

I think Palin was actually winning the debate until Biden cried. And yeah, he choked back tears and they were genuine when he talked about his wife and kids.

The Dodgers are currently winning this debate.