A lot of buildup.  I’m guessing this debate was the highest rated of all time.

This was Obama’s debate to win, and he did not win.  The McCain campaign has been in a tailspin for 2 weeks, they are on a wing and a prayer.  Obama’s had more primary-debate experience and he has beter command of the issues.

Obama played it safe.  Which in a lot of respects is gambling.  The best way to play his hand right now in a completely game-theory-optimal game would have been to attack.  Not a flailing attack but a coherent relentless attack.  Stronger body language.  Mention Bush more.  He never mentioned Cheney!?! Ask McCain direct yes or no questions – it is the classic rhetorical defense to an illogical tact.  Much stronger than saying “That’s not true”.

That being said, I think Obama played it right.  McCain is old, and his campaign is careening.  His “suspend the campaign” gambit failed – yesterday!  Palin.  The economic issues are breaking HARD in Obama’s favor.  McCain can’t win if Obama shuts it down right now.  Obama is totally controlling the tempo, and he can’t lose as long as that is true.  Obama wins if every debate is like this.  Its dissapointing on a gut level, but I approve.

The Obama campaign should *publicly* fly Bill Clinton to Obama’s side to prepare for debate #2, and Bill will help Barack NAIL tone.  and McCain can’t counter (ARBITRAGE!)

I heart Rachel Maddow.  Sorry Keith and Hardball guy.

Full disclosure.  I was wrong in 2000 and 2004! (but you can’t prove that!)

Posted: September 27th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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My friend Thomas Kostigen has a new book out today that I highly recommend called You Are Here:  Exposing the Vital Link Between What We Do and What That Does to Our Planet.  Thomas traveled around the globe and documented the links between our western lifestyles and the environment.  Knowledge is power, and power creates change.  Check out the video below, and buy the book today.

Posted: September 23rd, 2008 under politics, travel.
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As I wrote back in June, you can gamble on the outcome of the presidential election on various betting sites.  On June 4th, Obama was running at -194.  I checked in after the Democratic convention but before the Palin bubble and the odds had dropped to -166.  Obviously they sank like a stone post convention as McCain’s polls shot through the roof.  Not sure where they bottomed out, but 2 days ago I looked and Obama was -122.  The economy and McCain’s stump gaffes of the last few days have pushed the line back to -143.

There are some cool sites out there that regress the various state by state polls and keep a running tally of the the two parties odds of winning in the electoral college.  I like the one from Princeton the best.  Because the EV estimator is based on less frequent state polls, it’s likely a lagging indicator.  The blogger guessed today that Obama’s should expect to win 300 Electoral votes based on recent national poll trends.

I’m still sticking to my meta analysis that Obama v McCain ends up playing out like Clinton vs. Dole in ‘96.  IMO McCain is already channeling Norm McDonald channeling Bob Dole.

Posted: September 18th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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The great blog The House That Rock Built compiled a recap of this weekend’s drubbing game scored with “Yakkety Sax”.    This is likely the high point of the ND season as they are road dogs at Mich. St. this week, but beating Michigan is always cause for celebration.

Posted: September 16th, 2008 under sports.
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Saw this last night, found it interesting and informative.  Whether or not these two men hold any culpability for current crisis is a debate worth having, but it isn’t the main point of the interview. The main line of discussion Charlie went after was a) what are the potential outcomes of the current crisis, and b) what should policy makers be doing.  Rubin and Summers advocated finding a bi-partisan process for making short and long term policy course corrections that admit a) current spend and borrow policy is an epic mistake that has 0% of chance of success in the long run – the balance sheet must be fixed. and that b) we are going to have to make some hard decisions which will require leadership, trust, and communication with the American people. Can’t we all agree with them on that?

Posted: September 11th, 2008 under digital entertainment, politics.
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I was interested to read in the LA Times yesterday that the United Nations is now urging wealthy nations to make a dramatic shift in eating habits, saying the best way to curb climate change is for people to go at least one day a week without meat.  Maybe they are reading my blog.

If you are thinking about doing I’d recommend skipping the fish course as well and go completely vegetarian or vegan to the extent you can.  It’s not just about greenhouse gasses – the world’s fisheries are stressed as well, and even farmed fish require an inefficient conversion of feedstock.  There is some good information on the Environmental Defense Fund’s website about which species of fish you should be choosing when you shop that you can print and carry in your wallet.

Nine months later I’m thinking about adding another meatless day per week.

Photo by Mary Edwards

Posted: September 10th, 2008 under food, politics.
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