Live Blog: Final Presidential Debate

• Why is each candidate's economic plan best?
— McCain invokes the ailing Nancy Reagan and says America is justifiably angry — but he "won't repeat" the specifics of his plan except for his $300-billion mortgage rescue plan. Uses the phrase "homeowners first." 'Country' must feel slighted.
— Obama says the bailout was a "first step" and says taxpayers should get their money back. Says there's no relief for the middle class, then talks about stopping outsourcing, his tax cut plan and dipping into IRAs. Says a homeowner rescue is needed... just not McCain's version. Then expounds on education, energy and healthcare as "long-term" issues on the economy — a bit of a reach.
— McCain counters saying Obama's tax plan prevents/makes it harder for people to own/operate small businesses.
— Obama says both candidates want tax cuts — just that he wants to cut for the middle class, McCain wants to cut for the rich. Haven't we heard this before? At least we get a new character in this election: "Joe the Plumber." Is he related to Joe Six-Pack?
— McCain claims Obama's plan is wealth redistribution. Isn't that what government is at its most basic level?

• How do the candidates respond to report that says they add to the deficit, not decrease it?
— Obama says getting money back on bailout is key. "Adjustments" to the budget? Cut insurance company subsidies (a "giveaway"). Doesn't get any more specific on cuts, but says that America must "invest" in energy and healthcare to save later (Ed: No one wants to admit you have to spend money to make money, including Sen. Obama).
— McCain shifts back to the homeownership issue — by that, we mean his most-basic talking points: Home values help boost jobs. We need nuclear power. Stop sending money to countries that don't like us. Energy independence. The "hatchet" spending freeze first, then "the scalpel" Obama prefers. The specific cuts McCain actually mentions: Tariffs on sugar cane-based ethanol, the marketing assistance program, and sweetheart deals to jet builders.
— Obama says spending freeze is irresponsible and that focusing on earmarks alone "won't solve the problem." B. Hussein's history lesson: Clinton created a surplus, W. doubled the deficit, McCain will bring more of the same.

• Can either of them balance the budget in four years?
— McCain SCORES!!!!! "If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." Great line, but it's far too little, too late. McCain says "the hatchet and the scalpel" both work. Says he fights against all sorts of spending. How many times will we hear McCain say "fight," "fighter" or "fighting" tonight? The sky's the limit.
— Obama tries to prove he's a maverick by sticking up for tort reform and charter schools and clean coal againt the Dem leadership. Says it's easy to confuse McCain and Bush on spending and finance.
— McCain goes to a subtle playing of the POW card early: "I've got the scars to prove it." True, he wasn't talking about a torture camp, but it's hard to deny the imagery it produces.

• The nasty campaign rhetoric: Will you denounce it?
— McCain says if they had townhall meetings, things wouldn't have gotten so bad. Some "regret," lots of unacceptable words, and then takes Obama to task for not denouncing Congressman John Lewis. "Very unfair, totally inappropriate." Vows for a "truthful" campaign (Ed: Better late than never, I guess). Calls Obama a liar for not accepting matching funds/public campaign financing.
— Obama says "100 percent" of McCain's ads are negative — I don't buy it, but I do buy the notion that McCain and Palin are subtly race-baiting. "Three weeks" of nasty campaigning by McCain is better than "four more years" of Bush-esque policies from McCain. Obama says he looks forward to debating the issues, not the name-calling and guilt-by-association games.
— McCain says Obama's attack ads on McCain's healthcare and immigration policies are untrue, and that his "unprecedented" spending is a fault.
— Obama essentially says Palin is complicit by not stopping the rabid rally attendees. Obama says some things Lewis said were over the line, but not all of it. Blames McCain for the cynicism among Americans when it comes to the political game.
— McCain is "proud" of his rally attendees, even if they threaten to assassinate Sen. Obama. Also, most of them are veterans and beyond reproach, "great citizens."
— Obama says issues must be king to end two wars, the financial crisis and every other issue facing the American people.
— McCain says ACORN is destroying "the fabric of democracy."
— Obama addresses the Ayers connection directly. I don't see how McCain continues to harp on this now — but I think he can win a lot of votes with the ACORN scandal if he tones down his rhetoric. Then Obama tries to deflect the blame from ACORN to the people they hired to register voters — I don't know if this will help, but it's the best he's got, I think. But if he can keep talking about who he does trust (Luger, Biden, etc.), it might hold up.
— McCain keeps saying "all the facts" need to come out on Ayers and ACORN, but that his campaign will focus on finances and our children.

• Why is your VP a better possible president than your opponent's VP?
— Obama says Biden's foreign policy experience is king, he fights for working families and remembers where he comes from. "The little guy." Biden "shares ... core values" with Obama. He really doesn't say a single word about Palin.
— McCain says Palin is "a role model to women and reformers." Tax cutter, took on the good ole boys, "cronyism." Why won't he say "maverick"?
— Obama is asked if Palin is qualified... he won't touch that question with a 50-foot pole (or a Bridge to Nowhere, if I say so myself).
— McCain acknowledges he thinks Biden is qualified, but wrong. That's a lot easier to say than "Sarah Palin doesn't belong anywhere near the White House, let alone a campaign for the White House."

• Energy and Climate Control Change (Thanks, Sen. McCain)
— McCain says we can ween ourselves of Middle Eastern and Venezuelan oil... and that nuclear is perfectly fine — our Navy servicemembers use it to move their ships that carry the planes that Obama says are used for "air-raiding villages and killing civilians." (OK, he didn't say all that right then and there, but he wanted to).
— Obama concurs with McCain's estimate without saying he agrees, but says we have to stop borrowing money from China. OK.... But boost domestic production on lands already owned and "look at" offshore drilling.... BUT WHAT REALLY MATTERS: solar, wind, biodiesel, etc.
— Obama thinks free trade is nice, but it hurts when China plays games with its currency and South Korea beats the pants off us on auto exports one on one.
— McCain calls out Obama on saying he'll consider offshore drilling when we all know he'd rather drink a barrel of crude than give any concessions to the "Drill, Baby, Drill" crowd. Also says free trade creates jobs — he's right, but those jobs are probably in Colombia, not America.
— Obama says free trade must be balanced with protecting foreign workers who get slaughtered by corporate-linked hit squads when they try to organize in Latin America. Also, only helps out Big Auto in Detroit if they're moving toward cleaner, fuel-efficient vehicles to aid in the quest for energy independence and new jobs.
— McCain juxtaposes Obama's dislike of ultra-free-trade agreements and the "no preconditions" diplomacy plan. I don't know if anyone buys it.

• Health Care: What to do?
— Obama says the woes of the current system on everyday Americans will break your heart — and that he won't do anything except try to lower the cost or allow average Americans to buy into a federal pool. Cheaper drugs, less bureaucracy, better chronic illness management and prevention — maybe he does have a plan to fix health care after all.
— McCain agrees the cost is a major problem. Walk-in clinics, fight obesity with physical education and nutrition, gym incentives and his REFUNDABLE $5,000 TAX CREDIT. Essentially tells people to move to Canada or England if they like Obama's single-payer plan.
— Obama says healthcare will become too expensive for most employers under McCain's plan, and then they'll be left with the REFUNDABLE $5,000 TAX CREDIT (and it'll be taxed, too). I'm somewhat surprised McCain hasn't flip-flopped on this yet, because he's losing on it.
— McCain now says Joe the Plumber is rich. I honestly don't know where this is coming from. Congratulations, Joe. Can I bum a $20 off you?
— Both McCain and Obama both smile WAY too much while the other is talking. They respectively look like a high school debater just itching to say something after hearing their opponent fumble an issue. It's smug and slightly arrogant. Ralph Nader and Bob Barr would never do something like that.

• Would either candidate nominate a judge who disagreed with them on abortion?
— McCain said he'd never impose a litmus test, and that he voted for people he didn't totally agree with because they were qualified... and then said Obama voted for Justice Breyer... ummm, errrrr.... (Here's a hint: Obama never had a chance to vote on Justice Breyer. Breyer was appointed in 1994; Obama joined the Senate in 2004).
— Obama acknowledges his stance on abortion rights but doesn't say much about judicial philosophies. He also doesn't take McCain to task on the Breyer vote/non-vote.
— McCain harkens the "Obama voted 'Present' 8 million times in the Illinois statehouse" line. Also says Obama voted against saving the lives of babies of failed abortions.
— Obama says the bill wasn't about saving lives, but undermining Roe v. Wade. Obama may have gone too far into talking about abortion for someone who, by all acounts, could coast to an easy victory. He suggests there's common ground between pro-rights and anti-rights groups — I don't buy it, and I generally think there's always some small bit of common ground between all groups: Israelis and Palestinians, Republicans and Democrats, Hatfields and McCoys.

• FINAL QUESTION: Lots of education spending, lots of education failure — how do we fix it?
— Obama says education is key to economics and national security. How to fix it? Money AND reform. Early-childhood education investments is the starting point. Recruit more teachers, especially math and science, and give them incentives to do well. Make college affordable to produce smarter workers who will innovate.... but PARENTS must work harder.
— McCain says it's "the civil rights issue of the 21st Century." (Sorry, gays who want to get married... but you weren't banking on McCain now, were you?). Charter schools and firing bad teachers will save us. "The school of your choice" and educational "competition" will produce better education, and not "throwing money" at the problem — yet we will somehow "reward" good teachers (With lollipops, I assume).
— Obama says local control is a great tradition, but the federal government must "step up" in funding. Says Bush tried it but didn't give any money with No Child Left Behind (Accountability without rewards — essentially what McCain just said). Obama likes charter schools, he says... interesting. And Obama hates bad teachers... and the idea that vouchers will save us.
— McCain says Obama ignores the success of D.C.-area school vouchers program. McCain says US education is "a system that cries out for accountability." Obviously he doesn't know about No Child Left Behind — but he knows about vouchers, and he says they work.
— Obama says they don't.... it's charter schools that work.

• CLOSING STATEMENTS
— McCain says "America needs a new direction" and that he will differ from the past eight years of the Bush administration, he will take on his own party... He still hasn't said "maverick." Why no "maverick"? I'm starting to lose faith in the idea that he's a "maverick." Says Americans must "trust" the best candidate with their tax dollars. The "Country First" line gets in there, and he invokes his family as reason to vote for him.
— Obama says Washington hasn't been able to reform to prevent the financial crisis we're in. I heard the phrase "fundamental differences" one 1,000 times too many in these debates. He actually asks for people's votes and vows to work tirelessly every day.

• QUICK ANALYSIS
McCain won the debate, but Obama already won the election, even if a couple thousand "Joe the Plumbers" decide to vote for McCain because of tonight. McCain can win thousands of votes and a few states between now and November 4 if he focuses on ACORN and keeps saying that Obama wants to run against President Bush and not Senator McCain.... but it's too little, too late based on my thinking.