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- Last night's vice-presidential debate drew 45 percent of American households, a considerably larger audience than the first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. Meanwhile, Think Progress has compiled a video that demonstrates how reliant Sarah Palin was on notecards to deliver her talking points. [EDIT: Marc Ambinder argues that wasn't the case, as it would violate the debate rules.] Finally, blogger Aden Nak has put together a useful flowchart to help you make sense of Palin's thought processes during the debate.
- Today on Fox News, Palin discussed being "annoyed" during the Katie Couric interviews because "no matter what you say, you're going to get clobbered. If you cease to answer a question, you're going to get clobbered on the answer. If you choose to try to pivot and go on to another subject that you believe that Americans want to hear about, you get clobbered for that, too." I agree. It must be irritating to have to answer questions from a journalist when all you're trying to do is use the interview to spew campaign boilerplate. In the same interview Plain revealed that she first learned about the McCain campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan in the paper this morning. Definitely a valuable member of the team, that Palin!
- Yesterday, Politico reported that the McCain campaign is planning to target three states in the wake of its Michigan decision: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In addition, the campaign is targeting Maine's second congressional district, which, if it's successful, would yield a single, potentially tie-breaking electoral vote. Meanwhile, Barack Obama appears to be playing the same game, putting resources into Nebraska's second CD.
- The RNC raised $66 million in September, a record amount. That kind of money can sure buy a lot of attack ads.
- Charles Krauthammer calls the election for Barack Obama, observing that "he's got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president." He's right, but since he's Krauthammer, he uses his media real estate to pump the Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers and Tony Rezko connections that the McCain campaign is sure to tap soon (as if anyone cares or is listening).
- Quote of the Day, courtesy of Rich Lowry, editor of that serious journal of conservative ideas, National Review: "I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, 'Hey, I think she just winked at me.' And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America." Dood, shez so hawt!!!
- In Virginia, Barack Obama has reached his voter registration goal of 150,000 people, adding over 100,000 in the last month alone. Virginia doesn't require disclosure of party affiliation but, based on where these voters are coming from, they're probably mostly Democrats.
--Mori Dinauer
