Live Tonight: reason's Staff Liveblogs the Final Debate of '08!

Come back to Hit & Run tonight as reason's team—including Editor in Chief Matt Welch, Senior Editor Radley Balko, Associate Editor David Weigel, and Associate Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward—liveblog the final rhetorical tete-a-tete between John McCain and Barack Obama. You won't have to refresh the blog. Commentary will appear in real time through the livechat application provided by CoverItLive.com.

Will McCain find a way to slip the word "Ayers" into every answer? Will Obama become so mellow that he slumps over mid-sentence? Will Bob Barr shatter the wall at Hofstra's forum shouting "Oh, yeaaaaaah"? Tune in tonight. The fun starts at 9 p.m. east coast time.

Comments

[JMR]

I'm no fan of Barr, but if he's putting his carcass as close as he possibly can to the "debate" without risking arrest by the goons, then a LP candidate is FINALLY doing something right. Whether or not they let him in, the media's there, so it's the candidate's job to be-there, too. Libertarian candidates in the past have been EXCEPTIONALLY slow to grok this simple point, so Barr gets a qualified "bravo" from me today.

[sixstring]

Will McCain find a way to slip the word "Ayers" into every answer?

No, talk-like-a-pirate day was last month. But that would be kinda awesome if he said "WTF, I'm losing anyway, why not talk like a pirate?!"

[Reinmoose]

Does anyone know of a good structured drinking game for this debate? I can think up a whole bunch of things to drink for, but I was wondering if there was something more official or that I didn't have to put effort into.

Reason should really make an official one.

[SIV]

I predict squirrels will infect REASON's debate liveblogging.

[sixstring]

Reinmoose--

"Wall Street" and "Main Street" are obvious and should get you blotto by 9:30 if you include shots for every "greedy" and "struggling." I'm looking for every McCain "Resurgence Plan." What is it with this guy and "surges?"

[Paul]

Please god, make it stop.

[tarran]

I'm no fan of Barr, but if he's putting his carcass as close as he possibly can to the "debate" without risking arrest by the goons, then a LP candidate is FINALLY doing something right.

Remember Badnarik and Cobb being arrested in 2004? With nary a peep from the media that would breathlessly write long articles about some murderer who was an extra on mighty morphin power rangers?

[Pinette]

Reinmoose,
the key is to come up with phrases that will be used, but not ubiquitously, so as to avoid alcohol poisoning.

suggest:
Fannie mae/Freddie Mac
Ayers
unrepentant
naivete
prisoner of war
Kissinger
voted with bush

words NOT to use
my friends
fundamental
wall street
economy

[BDB]

This election is becoming almost as boring as 1996 with Obama's lead.

[svf]

"Wall Street" and "Main Street" are obvious and should get you blotto by 9:30 if you include shots for every "greedy" and "struggling."

"crisis", "Lieberman", "bipartisan", and "rescue" are shot-worthy also...

[Reinmoose]

Yes, that really is the key, isn't it Pinette?

Maybe some mixture of phrases. I find the ones on the azcentral bingo card pretty good (http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/debatebingo/azc_bingo.html) like "Hillary Clinton" and "Washington Insider."
I know it's not as big of a buzzword this year as before, but "comprehensive" is also a good one

[Angry Sam]

Well, the "official" drinkin' rules have been posted at DebateDrink.com.

I doubt McCain will even mention Bill Ayers tonight.

[Elemenope]

I concur with SIV's compelling prediction.

------

No joke, though, it is funny that this is the debate where we are likely to see the most air between the two candidates. Ironic because domestic issues, by and large, are net losers for the GOP. Tragic because though it will be the most interesting, in real terms it will matter by far the least; the die is fairly cast.

[Elemenope]

Remember Badnarik and Cobb being arrested in 2004? With nary a peep from the media that would breathlessly write long articles about some murderer who was an extra on mighty morphin power rangers?

I do remember that. It earned Badnarik my vote.

[svf]

Remember Badnarik and Cobb being arrested in 2004? With nary a peep from the media...

Yes indeed... I recall having to call the campaign to find out if it really happened and what went down since nobody reported on it...

I would imagine, though, that if it were Barr making a similar stink it might pick up a little more media -- hell, they'll be desperate for something new and interesting to talk about tonight and if a moderately-known person like Barr (and/or Nader) provides a sideshow, perhaps they will dutifully latch on to it...

looking forward to hearing what exactly Barr is up to with this "virtual" debate tonight... the more time that passes the more it will likely be "too little too late"...

[deranged hermit]

I have squirrels to keep me company during the debate.

[svf]

... and here it is. sounds like one of those "internet only" deals. might be interesting if done right, but this should have been announced at least a week ago to have any hope of attracting any kind of audience.....

Starting this evening at 9:00 PM EDT, live and concurrent with the broadcast of the closed debate between the Republican and Democratic nominees, you will be able to see where Bob differs with his opponents. Using digital video recording technology, Bob's responses to the moderator's questions will be spliced in in real time for viewing at the campaign's website at http://www.bobbarr2008.com/counterdebate Bob will be broadcasting from Newport News, Virginia on the campus of Christopher Newport University before a live audience.

I encourage you to watch and I ask a favor of you. Would you please forward this message to your friends who may be interested? This is their chance to learn that there's not a dime's worth of difference between McCain and Obama - and that Bob Barr offers hope for real change in Washington.

Thanks so much for your loyalty and support.

Sincerely,
Russell Verney
Campaign Manager
Bob Barr for President

[Nigel Watt]

Last time I participated in a debate drinking game was during the Republican primaries, when I was volunteering for the Paul campaign in South Carolina. It was a bunch of college students (we're cheap), and one of our rules was the drink every time Chuck Norris was shown on screen. It was awful.

[Kolohe]

I predict squirrels will infect REASON's debate liveblogging.

just as long as there not the secret ones.

[BakedPenguin]

Am I the only one who think of all those horrible Ernest movies whenever Russell Varney's name is shown?

[Tom W (Fla. not FL)]

They forgot to add to take a drink whenever a pundit (not pundent, you Muslim-Muslin confounders) says the word "game-changer."

[24AheadDotCom]

Maybe he'll show up:
memeorandum.com/081015/i37.jpg

Say, I realize the Kochtopus is behind BHO 110%, but I wonder whether that could be reduced to 109% when I direct them to this initiative from BHO's fave community organizers.

OTOH, it was illegal so maybe Reason will come out in support of it.

[Warren]

Will Bob Barr shatter the wall at Hofstra's forum shouting "Oh, yeaaaaaah"?

No. But I hope I live long enough to see something that cool.

[Bingo]

Kochtopus, libruhtarians, IllegalMexicans, blogspam...

It's LoneWacko!

[another Kevin]

That's a great Biden visual! I said a similar thing to the wife during the last debate; Biden needs to crash through the backdrop with a bottle of gin in one hand and a hooker in the other...

[smacky]

BakedPenguin shamed him so effectively that he had to change his domain name! Bwa ha ha! Though it won't be so easy to come up with a superhero caricaturization of a superhero called "24Ahead". That will be a daunting task indeed. BakedPenguin is up for the challenge.

Also, I don't mean to be a jerk (it just comes naturally, I suppose), but if McCain is rich enough to own 11 cars and 8 houses, you'd think he could splurge for a teeth whitening. It would surely do some amount of benefit for his appeal, and might even make him look a few decades younger.

[smacky]

Although I could be wrong...maybe the enjoyment of having that much money is increased in direct proportion to how villainous one looks.

[Johnnnn]

I'm not sure what you mean by "horrible earnest movies" but every mention of his name reminds me of all the awesome Earnet movies

[mtc]

The real question tonight is if I have the NLCS on the TV and the debate streaming on the computer which dynamic duo induces more cringing: McCain/Obama or McCarver/Buck?

[JMR]

tarran is right. Even an arrest often doesn't puncture the media's powerful (but *TOTALLY* un-noticed these days by "Newsbusters" or "Media Matters") antilibertarian bias.

[Iftikhar]

Muslim youths are angry, frustrated and extremist because they have been mis-educated and de-educated by the British schooling. Muslim children are confused because they are being educated in a wrong place at a wrong time in state schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. They face lots of problems of growing up in two distinctive cultural traditions and value systems, which may come into conflict over issues such as the role of women in the society, and adherence to religious and cultural traditions. The conflicting demands made by home and schools on behaviour, loyalties and obligations can be a source of psychological conflict and tension in Muslim youngsters. There are also the issues of racial prejudice and discrimination to deal with, in education and employment. They have been victim of racism and bullying in all walks of life. According to DCSF, 56% of Pakistanis and 54% of Bangladeshi children has been victims of bullies. The first wave of Muslim migrants were happy to send their children to state schools, thinking their children would get a much better education. Than little by little, the overt and covert discrimination in the system turned them off. There are fifteen areas where Muslim parents find themselves offended by state schools.

The right to education in one's own comfort zone is a fundamental and inalienable human right that should be available to all people irrespective of their ethnicity or religious background. Schools do not belong to state, they belong to parents. It is the parents' choice to have faith schools for their children. Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim teacher or a child in a Muslim school. There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools. An ICM Poll of British Muslims showed that nearly half wanted their children to attend Muslim schools. There are only 143 Muslim schools. A state funded Muslim school in Birmingham has 220 pupils and more than 1000 applicants chasing just 60.

Majority of anti-Muslim stories are not about terrorism but about Muslim culture--the hijab, Muslim schools, family life and religiosity. Muslims in the west ought to be recognised as a western community, not as an alien culture.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk