Apparently someone working for the AP doesn't read transcripts very well.  Maybe they work too many hours or don't speak English.  Or they're deliberately distorting Obama's words.

Which is it?  And which is worse?!

I'm very confused, Mary. Just recently at this site, always reliable and even-handed REpublican poster AnotherAmerican stated that the AP was a very left leaning source. This was bolstered by a vague reference to an editorial by somebody making the outlandish point that race may be a significant factor in this election (or "playing the race card").

Now I don't know what to believe!

It's ok Colonel sir....... If you need to take a break..... I'll watch over the troops!

Like you, I know how hard it is to try and make sense of rightwing illogic...... here.... have a cup of coffee (with a splash of bourbon)......

As for the AP..... I get the feeling the guy that read the transcript was sloppy and I sense a retraction coming soon enough...... 

MMfA?? You will report that if it occurs....... right?

Gosh darn Mary, don't ya' just wanna read what is writin'? Golly, I send a rootin' tootin' hi to y'all at the AP for their xplainin' what Berock Hussein Obama dun said. Now I can git out thar and tell my people that he hates America.

Sincerely yours,

Sarah Palin'....(do you think there is a G at the end of her name and she just forgets to pronounce it?)

lol  Sarah Paling?  She does take libruls ta task, for, ya know, readin' too much and tryin ta get at the truth also.  Perhaps so.

The Associated Press is pathetic...

But not quite as pathetic as Tom (broken down) Brokaw as so-called moderator of this fiasco.

It's the American people who lose.  Brokaw should hold a press conference and apologize to the American people.

Off subject..Tuned into Fox after the debate and Luntz was talking to his "focus group". He asked a question about who did better or something like that. Of the approx. 25 people about 5 went for McCain at which point he said it was even. This, my fellow vermin, is what they mean by FAIR and BALANCED. I never knew that 5 and 20 were the same. Now I see why Foxites cannot understand outside of their leaders words.

Funny thing is that, while I'm an Obama supporter, I actually thought McCain did better in this one.  But maybe I should clarify... I thought he did a LOT better than he did in the first debate.  He seemed a lot more comfortable with the format and the setting.  He seemed more in his element.  Obama on the other hand... seemed to have a lot of trouble at times staying on topic, and answering the actual questions and at times seemed almost Palinesque as he shoveled 6 bags of bu--sh-- over a question that had little or nothing to do with the topic.  He really seemed off his game (at least to me) especially comapared to the first debate, and other times I've heard him speak.  McCain also seemed to have him on the defensive a lot more.  Just my opinion, and it looks like I'm in the minority on it.  (Which is fine.)

Something I took away from ALL THREE debates though... Judging from the ticker that CNN (did anyone else?) had running at the bottom of the screen, which reported feedback in real time from a group of hand picked (so admittedly not scientific) self-reported 'uncomitteds' voters, based on whether they liked (or didn't like) what they were hearing.  One thing was VERY clear: People don't like finger-pointing.  They don't like blame.  And they don't respond to negativity in general.  From either side.  Both sides (in all three debates) did very well with these groups when they delivered there message, or described what they would do.  (BTW, in the 1st debate there was a Pub, Dem and Uncom group.  In the 2nd and 3rd it was just Men/Women, all uncom.)  But both sides absolutley FLATLINED when they started criticising each other, finger-pointing, blaming, bickering,saying " he voted for this / he voted aginst that..."  The middle of the road voters really don't seem to like like that much.  I think it (at best) only preaches to the respective choir.  There's a lesson in there somewhere...

"If all you run is negative attack ads you don't have much of a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it."

Who said that?  John McCain, in his 2000.  And he's right.

For his own sake, and his party's, he should have listened to his own, sage, advice.

Funny thing is that, while I'm an Obama supporter, I actually thought McCain did better in this one. 

Yes, you are in the minority.  You see, Obama is leading in the polls so he didn't have to do anything except not f*** up.  Gramps needed a hail mary touchdown.  He threw the pass, but it fell incomplete.

"Obama on the other hand... seemed to have a lot of trouble at times staying on topic, and answering the actual questions and at times seemed almost Palinesque as he shoveled 6 bags of bu--sh-- over a question that had little or nothing to do with the topic."

Eddie, I'm completely in Obama's bottle.  Fact.  But as he was "answering" his very first question I had this urge to choke him.  Look, just answer the question, it's okay.  Listen to the person you are supposed to be responding to!  Geeze, you're a community freakin' organizer!!

However, as time went on I thought he did a bit better, and learned in real time...though he's clearly no Bill Clinton.  In my estimation McCain wasn't at *all* good within what was supposed to be his strong format and I think that ended up putting Obama in a pretty good light.

Ultimately, contact with the population is important in a President's job, even if there are many things that are much more important to being a President.  But the debate left me feeling Obama really needs to work on his interpersonal skills.  Somehow, he needs to blend being "of the people" with looking "Presidential".  I don't want him there for only a single term.

I saw that too, Prince. It was almost as good as this one

One of my far-right friends even laughed about it and explained that Fox uses the metric system or "new" math.. Seems like they should use an abacus.

I sent the AP an e-mail and I hope it issues a correction.

AP is rapidly becoming to wire services what Faux News has become to cable news.

The most telling moment was the "Obama said he'd invade Pakistan" argument.  McCain got smacked the first time he brought this up.  Tonight he did it again, and got smacked the same exact way.  Why?  Is this a sign that McCain really has nothing else to say, or does it indicate that he can't remember his advisors telling him not to do it, or maybe that he can't stop himself from doing it out of temper?

In any of those scenarios he looks like an idiot.  I seriously could not believe my ears when I heard him bring up something that not only has such an obvious response available, but something that was already met with that response in the first meeting.  What was the idea, that Obama was going to let it go this time and McCain would score a point on it?  He must be out of his damn mind, or just plain desperate.

Good observation Brab. I noticed the same gosh darn thing. I especially liked the part where Obama said nobldy is talking about invading Pakistan and he was sure everyone in the audience heard what he originally stated. It made McCain appear to be completely out of control and unable to grasp reality.

And McCain looked even worse by insisting that Obama threatened Pakistan after Obama's response, "Look at the context of what he said" or whatever.  Yes, that's exactly what Obama said to do as well, look at the context.  That especially seemed "out of control" and desperate.

Excellent point. I remember that part. McCain is going to lose on this issue. I dare say that no American would condemn any President who kills Bin Laden through an attack in another nation. What is absolutely hilarious is McCains thinking here. He actually believes that by saying Obama wants to invade Pakistan, even after Obama is right there beside him saying something different, it will somehow resonate with the public that Obama wants to invade Pakistan. It is head scratchingly bizarre. I can't help but to equate McCains remarks here as being very similiar to the Ministry of Infomration in Orwell's 1984 saying"we were never at war with Eurasia" while Winston is removing from the record news stories about being at war with Eurasia. It's damn crazy what this guy is trying to make people believe.

AP has a repug lover running the show so its no surprise that AP gets it wrong.

what is wrong in this situation is that mccain is extensively quoted, four sentences, word for word, and what obama said is "summarized" by the ap writer.  if they can quote mccain, they can quote obama's answer, word for word also. 

Exactly. Maybe they think we can't understand the plans Obama presented (you know when he gave answers to questions, all those plans verse just giving talking points like someone else did).

And to the media: Please I really don't need to hear the "nailing Jello to a tree" quote anymore.

I would like for the media to keep replaying when Senator McCain referred to Senator Obama as "that one".

That one phrase sums up McCain's campaign for the presidency which is to insult and demean his way into the White House.

"That One" could well be the quote that most people remember from this debate, especially if the Press dwells on it.  It certainly makes Grampy look small and peevish, whether he meant it that way or not.  It reminds me a little of the time Perot referred to his mostly black audience as "you people".  It dogged him for the rest of the campaign.

I've been watching presidential debates since 1960. I can't remember any other debate where a phrase hit me like that one did. My wife asked me if he had just said it and i told her he had.

It was wrong on so many different levels. It was nasty, arrogant, demeaning and petty. My wife seemed to think it could be construed to be racist of McCain to refer to Obama in this way. I agreed that it could be taken that way, but we both thought that probably was not his intent.

Any respect I may have ever had for McCain is gone. That one derisive phrase should keep him out the White House.

That one derisive phrase should keep him out the White House.

What I think should keep him out of the White House was his selection of Palin.  But if this statement does it, so be it.

What about when Brokaw asked him about who should be Treasure Secretary and Gramps responded "Not you".  Matthews couldn't stop laughing about that.

It was sad watching McCain trying too hard to be funny and likeable.  "Not you"?  That was random.  That laugh of his is just plain creepy as well.  And how many times did he say "my friends"?

Then the polls come back as 60%-30% or something for Obama on likeability.

I have to say that I really used to like McCain back in 2000. He no longer gets any respect from me as he has essentially sold his soul for what he admits is his own personal ambition to be President. He has specifically stated that he wants to be President not because he wants to serve the people but because of blind ambition.

Given my past respect for the man I really couldn't help to not feel sorry for him as I watched him hobble all over that stage mouthing off these inane littany's. I have to say that his overall performance reminded me a lot of Bob Dole in 96'. Also, I'm wondering if he "knows" how to catch Bin Laden and he "knows" how to do all these other things, isn't he being very unpatriotic by not letting the President know how to kill or capture Bin Laden right now. Seems to me that if you exclaim tht you can do such a thing and haven't done it would either mean you are lying or you are the most immoral person to ever run for office.

I have to say that I really used to like McCain back in 2000. He no longer gets any respect from me as he has essentially sold his soul for what he admits is his own personal ambition to be President. He has specifically stated that he wants to be President not because he wants to serve the people but because of blind ambition."

Is that quote confirmed in some way?  I read that a while ago but haven't heard much about it since, and it's so damning that I would think it would be used against him in the debates or in ads.

"Given my past respect for the man I really couldn't help to not feel sorry for him as I watched him hobble all over that stage mouthing off these inane littany's. I have to say that his overall performance reminded me a lot of Bob Dole in 96'. Also, I'm wondering if he "knows" how to catch Bin Laden and he "knows" how to do all these other things, isn't he being very unpatriotic by not letting the President know how to kill or capture Bin Laden right now. Seems to me that if you exclaim tht you can do such a thing and haven't done it would either mean you are lying or you are the most immoral person to ever run for office."

That was a very strange thing for him to say.  And tying in to what we were just talking about, I wonder what would happen if someone asked him how he would catch Bin Laden hiding in an uncooperative Pakistani state.  Would he "know" how to catch him then?  The man is going through ridiculous contortions in order to win.  Maybe it's just a change of his character, or it's just the nature of politics.  Either way it's shameful.

MISSED THE DEBATE LAST NIGHT BUT WHEN I LOOKED AT THE FACES OF THE REPORTERS AND SAW THE WEB SITES I KNEW OBAMA WON AGAIN. WHEN HE WINS A DEBATE THE WEB SITES DOWN PLAY THE STORY BUT WHEN PALIN DID GOOD AT HERE DEBATE THE WEB SITES WERE TALKING ABOUT THE DEBATE 24/7 FOR TWO DAYS. JUST SAW THE NEW POLL AT ZOGBY AND IT'S SAD THAT OBAMA IS UP ONLY 3 POINTS!! LIKE I SAID FEAR WILL PUT MCCAIN IN OFFICE.

If Grampy wins, it will be due to fear, racism..... or Republican cheating.

The issues left him in the dust long ago.

Do they publish their polls in ALL CAPS so you can read it?

Do they publish their polls in ALL CAPS so you can read it?

It looks like right-winger typed his reply on a Speak & Spell...

WHEN PALIN DID GOOD AT HERE DEBATE THE WEB SITES WERE TALKING ABOUT THE DEBATE 24/7 FOR TWO DAYS.

Caribou Barbie did NOT "do good at here debate".  She did not answer the moderator's questions - instead, she simply parrotted the right-wing crap that Gramps McCain's handler programmed into her during the cram session at McCain's Sedona ranch.  People were talking about her performance because it was so pathetic.

Two suggestions, right-winger:

1 - Learn how to use the shift key.

2 - Learn how to spell.

What is amusing RightWinger is that you have looked and looked for a poll which shows the race to be fairly close and then you trot it out in an attempt to bolster your candidate. The reality here is that every poll shows a clear and definite lead for Obama in all areas. In fact, from what I understand, the most respected poll in media circles is the WSJ/NBC poll. The results in that poll are clear sir. It's clear in Gallup, USA Today, Realclear, etc, etc. Your candidate is fading fast.  But hey, you could always immerse yourself in polls in states like Alabama or Utah and make yourself believe that this is now a close race. The rest of us here in reality land will continue on with cogent discussions.

I tend not to believe any polls until the election is done and over with. I do like to see the numbers trending towards Obama, and him leading many polls outside the margin of error, but I just don't trust polling that much.

Obama did a great job

Now that was absolutely hilarious. I think I first saw that while perusing the NewsHounds site.

I'm tellin' ya, those darn guys at Fox sure know how to spin. Are they fair and balanced....you betcha!