The Lower Depths

McNasty couldn't bring himself to even look at Barack Obama during the first debate. During the second one, he looked at him and then referred to him over his shoulder and with the jab of his elbow as "That one."

The way you might refer to a broken chair that a guest shouldn't sit in. Or to a 1977 Impala that ceased to run in the early '90s. "That one." The contempt was cold and clammy.

But what do you expect? How should Sleazy McSleazealot refer to an America-hating terrorist in our midst? That's the image of Obama that McCain and Pom-Pom Palin are frantically constructing before crowds eager to pick up the vibe and scream sympathetically "Kill him!" All to Palin's evident approbation.

This is where McCain has taken himself. This is where he's willing to take the country. This is a formerly respected U.S. Senator who has not much left but his fury and his spite. Yes, that one on the right.

Will This Come Up in the Debate Tomorrow?

Wall Street Journal, today:

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.

The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate.

This will be ever so popular, and we can't wait for Sarah Palin to explain it.

Michigan to McCain: Don't Let the Door Hit Ya!

Apparently, leading lights in the Michigan Republican Party were among the last to learn that McCain/Palin was officially pulling its campaign out of the state.

Said Jack Waldvogel, Chairman of the Emmet County GOP: "If you are going to end visits to the state by McCain/Palin, do it. Just don't formally announce that you are 'pulling out' of Michigan, and then come back two days later asking the base core of support to 'keep working.' What a slap in the face to all the thousands of people who have been energized by the addition of Sarah Palin to the ticket. I've been involved in County Party politics and organization for 40 years, and this is the biggest dumbass stunt I have ever seen."

Waldvogel was finished: "He has given up on our State? What a total and complete crock of crap. Again, I think McCain owes the Republicans and the People of Michigan a HUGE APOLOGY. SOON!"

Obama in Asheville Yesterday

The Asheville Citizen-Times says there were 28,000 people there. Many were from Watauga County, including Bricca Sweet, who spoke to the crowd as one of North Carolina's original Obama "organizing fellows." (Bricca's personal essay about why she switched her party affiliation from the Republican to Democratic party was published in last Friday's Watauga Democrat.)

The Citizen-Times article speculates on the Obama effect on western N.C., which has been dependably Republican (except for Watauga and Buncombe and sometimes Jackson counties). The writer notes that the past habit of North Carolina statewide Democratic candidates to be on the opposite side of the state when a Democratic presidential candidate drops by seems to have flipped this year ("Democrats whose names will be below Obama's on the ballot want to be seen at his rallies").

"I think the perception is that [Obama] is really helping, amazing as it is," said Gary Pearce, Democratic analyst and formerly political guru to Gov. Jim Hunt.

Hugh McColl Endorses Obama

We hear from Charlotteans that the city is abuzz today over the public endorsement of Barack Obama by former NCNB CEO and Bank of America Chair Hugh McColl, credited by some as the man who put Charlotte in the forefront of the financial services industry. (HT: DJ)

Navy-pilot McCain might wince at this particular sentence in the McColl statement: "Through the years that I've been a businessman and before that an officer in the Marine Corps, I saw what qualities make effective leaders. I see them in Obama: a sharp intellect, stiff spine and steady hand." Ouch.

McColl goes on: "Obama's economic plans will restore market confidence and provide a blueprint for a better future. His pragmatic, intelligent economic plan will stop our financial slide and restore the expansion and confidence we knew in the 1990s. Obama's tax relief plans for small businesses and the middle class should provide much-needed economic stimulus."

Meanwhile, John McCain means to stop these falling dominoes nationally with ... what? Sarah Palin going negative?

Obama Will Hold Rally in Asheville Sunday

2 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, Asheville High School. The event is free and open to the public, no ticket required, but the Obama campaign is encouraging advance registration online.

More info here, along with a discussion of Obama's lopsided fundraising lead over McCain in western North Carolina.

The Bosses Get a Clue

Last week a film crew from the National Rifle Association showed up at the Consol Blacksville #2 Mine in Monongalia County, West Virginia, and started cornering miners, trying to get some of them to speak out against Barak Obama.

This was not received well by the miners.

"This was a surprise visit," explained United Mine Workers Safety Chairman Eric Greathouse, "and a lot of the miners felt this was a direct slap in the face of the union because they were trying to coerce our people into saying things against Barack Obama."

"Consol doesn't let anybody on their property -- never," said Safety Committee Member Mark Dorsey, "and for them to let the NRA come on the property and solicit our membership was totally uncalled for. We made our endorsement to our political process, and we didn't bother them, and they shouldn't be harassing our membership over this."

Some 440 miners expressed their disapproval by failing to show up for work on Monday of this week, taking what's called a "Memorial Day," instead of going to work.

'So Extremely Dangerous To Consider': A Found Poem

Hey, can I call you Joe?
A good barometer here,
As we try to figure out has this been a good time or a bad time,
The barometer there, I think, is going to be resounding.
I've joined this team that is a team of mavericks,
Not having that proof for the American people
To know that his commitment, too, is, you know,
Put the partisanship, put the special interests aside,
And get down to getting business done for the people of America.

Darn right.

Again, John McCain and I,
That commitment that we have made,
And we're going to follow through on that,
Getting rid of that corruption,
Also, though, is let's commit ourselves,
Joe Six Pack, hockey moms,
We need also to not get ourselves in debt,
To learn a heck of a lot of good lessons.

Darn right.

I may not answer the questions
That either the moderator or you want to hear.

Patriotic is saying, government, you know,
You're not always the solution,
And kind of undo in my own area of expertise,
And that's energy.

How long have I been at this, like five weeks?
There has been more and more revelation
Made aware now to Americans,
The mortgage-lenders, too,
Who were starting to really kind of rear that head of abuse.
I want to talk about, again, my record on energy
Versus your ticket's energy ticket, also.
I'm not one to attribute every man --
Activity of man to the changes in the climate.
There is something to be said also for man's activities.
The chant is "drill, baby, drill."

You know, I am tolerant.
I'm being as straight up with Americans as I can
In my non-support for anything
But a traditional definition of marriage.

It was the General Petraeus and al Qaeda,
But that it was a central war on terror is in Iraq,
An armed, nuclear armed especially Iran
Is so extremely dangerous to consider.

There's a time, too,
When Americans are going to say,
"Enough is enough with your ticket,"
On constantly looking backwards,
And pointing fingers,
And doing the blame game.
There have been huge blunders in the war.
There have been huge blunders throughout this administration.
Positive change is coming, though,
But change is coming.

Nuclear weaponry, of course,
Would be the be all, end all
Of just too many people in too many parts of our planet.

Say it ain't so, Joe,
There you go again pointing backwards again.
Now doggone it, let's look ahead
And tell Americans what we have
To plan to do for them in the future.

You mentioned education and I'm glad you did.
I know education you are passionate about
With your wife being a teacher for 30 years,
And God bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right?
Education credit in America
Has been in some sense in some of our states
Just accepted to be a little bit lax.

I'm thankful the Constitution would allow
More authority given to the vice president
If that vice president so chose to exert it.
John McCain's maverick position that he's in,
That's really prompt up to and indicated by the supporters,
And we have not got to allow the partisanship.

I like being able to answer these tough questions
Without the filter, even,
Of the mainstream media
Kind of telling viewers what they've just heard.

You betcha.

[All direct quotes from the transcript of the Biden-Palin debate, 2 Oct. 2008]

Obama Will Camp Out in Western N.C.

... this Sunday and Monday ... at an undisclosed location "near Asheville" ... in preparation for his second debate with John McCain.

Then he'll hop on over to Nashville for Tuesday night's debate at Belmont University.