8:01 CT: I have nothing witty to say about Bob Schieffer's introduction.
8:03 CT: McCain with the first word. He referenced Nancy Reagan's recent hospitalization in much the same way he referenced Ted Kennedy's hospitalization on the day of the first debate. It seems to be a strategic point; I wonder why he didn't mention somebody in the second debate?
8:07 CT: "Would you like to ask him a question," Schieffer asked McCain. The response: "No." McCain then brought up a conversation Obama had with a plumber named "Joe" from Ohio. The video of this conversation with Joe is available on youtube.
8:09 CT: Barack Obama's tax policy, "95% of working families will get a tax cut." Obama has completely won the tax cuts vote.
8:10 CT: McCain responded to Obama's economic plan by again bringing up Obama's conversation with Joe. McCain finished by saying this: "the purpose of taxes is not to spread the wealth around." He also brought up the business tax, instead of talking about individual taxes. Nobody cares about business taxes, if you can't pay your rent. I don't not care that Ireland has an 11% business tax rate while the USA has a 35% rate; this statistic does not play into McCain's narrative of helping the little guy. He just stated that businesses should get tax breaks ahead of individuals.
8:17 CT: Why did McCain just overtly say that his depression era proposal of buying crippled home mortgages was supported by Hillary Clinton.
8:19 CT: "I know how to do this," John McCain. Schieffer: "Which ones?" McCain literally couldn't think of anything legitimate. He listed two references relating to Ethanol. If he actually knew how to do this, I would like to think that he could have thought of an example that didn't playing horribly in Midwest battleground states.
8:20 CT: Barack Obama: "Eliminating earmarks will not solve the problem."
8:21 CT: Can either candidate balance the budget? "I am not President Bush., if you wanted to run against President Bush you should have run four years ago." He then answered the question by saying "we can do it;" but his statement was too garbled to correctly write down.
8:23 CT: "Even FOX News disputes it," Obama said in response to McCain's accusation that he voted for "a bill that raised taxes on those making under $42,000." Obama then went on to say that McCain, "On the core economic issues? you have been a staunch supporter of Bush's economic policies."
8:25 CT: The dirty campaigning question. Nobody cares about McCain's town hall meetings, nobody. McCain's number plummeted on the CNN uncommitted graph when he raised that issue. John McCain is about to get destroyed. "I will run a truthful campaign." Nobody cares if Obama backed out of public financing.
8:28 CT: "We expect Presidential campaigns to be tough?.100% of your campaign ads have been negative," responded Barack Obama. "I don't mind being attacked for the next three weeks. We need to talk about what's most pressing to [Americans]."
8:29 CT: Apparently McCain supports federal funding for stem cell research. That's definitely news to me.
8:31 CT: Obama just threw Palin under the bus, while defending Rep. Lewis.
8:32 CT: McCain wants to talk about his healthcare plan when Obama is defending himself, but he doesn't want to talk about health care when it doesn't fit into his "Obama is not one of us" narrative.
8:34 CT: "I'm proud of the people that come to our rallies," responded John McCain after Barack Obama cited an attendee at a Palin rally screaming "Kill Him" in reference to Obama.
8:35 CT: Whenever McCain starts talking the Uncommitted voter line on CNN immediately reseeds.
8:37 CT: "Ayers has become the center piece of McCain's campaign over the last week?40 Years ago when I was 8 he did some bad things." Obama then linked Ronald Reagan to Ayers. Obama essentially nullified the Ayers narrative.
8:40 CT: Obama's facial expressions tell the tale. You better believe people are noticing this. Every time McCain says something outrageous he gives a huge smirk. It's the "you have no idea what you are even saying" smirk.
8:41 CT: Obama just listed several reasons why Joe Biden would be an excellent president. When the question goes to McCain he isn't going to talk about why Palin would be a good President. McCain is going to attack Joe Biden.
8:42 CT: So I was wrong, but McCain let slip this classy quote: "Sarah Palin is a role model to reformers." She's such a good reformer she was convicted of ethical violations in the state she represents. "We need to understand what's causing autism," I would agree, but scientific research requires funding and therefore spending. This very research would get cut under McCain's proposed spending freeze.
8:45 CT: McCain followed up his Sarah Palin rhetoric with "[Biden] voted against the first Gulf War?He also had this cooky idea to divide Iraq." I was eventually right on McCain's attacks of Joe Biden.
8:48 CT: "We need to expand domestic production." Obama just voiced his support for offshore drilling under the "use-it-or-lose" doctrine.
8:51 CT: McCain then misquoted Obama as saying, "We will look at offshore drilling." No, that is not what Obama said, see above quote. McCain then made a starky comment about Obama's elegant style of speech.
8:53 CT: "We can create 5 million new jobs" if the transportation industry is guided down the right path according to Barack Obama.
8:55 CT: McCain just linked Obama to Herbert Hoover. This comparison just doesn't make sense. The uncommitted voters on CNN agreed.
8:56 CT: Obama on his healthcare plan: "If you have health insurance, you don't have to do anything; you can keep your plan. The only thing we are going to try and do is lower cost. We can cut $2,500 off your premium a year. If you don't have health insurance we will allow you to buy into a plan similar to the health care that myself and John McCain have access to."
8:58 CT: "47 million people are without healthcare today." The 47 million people without healthcare know they do not have healthcare. McCain's healthcare plan seems to revolve around exercise credits. McCain also wants to give families a $5,000 tax credit. Obama isn't offering a single payer system, as McCain just suggested. McCain also stated that the government will fine you under Obama's plan if you do not have health insurance.
9:00 CT: "Here's the fine: Zero." Obama just crushed McCain's only healthcare talking point. Obama then countered McCain's $5,000 tax credit by stating that older people will have a hard time getting insurance with just $5,000. "The average healthcare plan costs $12,000."
9:05 CT: McCain has referenced Joe the plumber way too many times during the debate. I'd be willing to bet that Joe is voting for Obama. Organ transplants should not be a right reserved for the rich, this should not be included in the "Cadillac" healthcare plan that McCain seems to oppose.
9:06 CT: McCain just blamed the last eight years on the last two years with a Democratic Congress.
9:07 CT: John McCain just stated that "there should not be a litmus test for Supreme Court Judges."
9:09 CT: Obama just overtly stated that he supports Roe vs. Wade.
9:10 CT: "I supported [equal pay for equal work], John McCain voted against it." John McCain then countered by stating that his vote related to the statute of limitations, "a trial lawyer's dream". Did McCain just justify his vote against this bill solely on the basis that it was "a trial lawyer's dream?"
9:14CT: Abortion: "It divides us. We should try and prevent unintended pregnancies. Nobody is pro-Abortion." ? Barack Obama.
9:16 CT: Last question on education. The USA spends more per capita on education, yet trail most countries of the world. What do you intend to do about it?
9:17 CT: Obama cited the correlation between education and military supremacy. Obama wants to focus on early childhood education and "an army of new teachers, especially in math and science." Obama stated that the affordability of college also plays a role in the diminishing quality of American education. He is proposing a $4,000 college credit in exchange for country service, and not just military service.
9:19 CT: "Education is the civil rights crusade of the 21st century," responded John McCain. McCain wants to eliminate teacher certification for teachers coming directly from the military. He wants to improve teachers by eliminating teaching standards; simply stunning.
9:21 CT: "[President Bush] left the money behind for No Child Left Behind," replied Barack Obama.
9:23 CT: "I don't think America's youth is an interest group, they're our future." That's likely the line of the night by Barack Obama.
9:23 CT: "Lets reform it and fund it," a nice succinct statement by John McCain encompassing the intended message of his campaign.
9:23 CT: Why did John McCain bring up Autism again. Is he trying to when the Autistic parents vote? I agree that it's an important issue, but I'll again reference the funding needed for research which McCain opposes under his spending freeze plan.
9:27 CT: "I think we've had a very healthy discussion," began John McCain's closing remarks. He then went on to state essentially every major issue that needs addressing. Throughout the entire campaign McCain has focused on the issues rather than their solutions.
9:30 CT: "Washington's unwillingness to tackle tough problems [is plaguing America]" Obama just won the debate with that line.
9:31 CT: Insta-Poll Prediction: Obama 55, McCain 25.