Thu, October 02, 2008 - 8:25 PM

In an Obama-Biden administration, says Biden, same-sex couples should be guaranteed the same constitutional benefits as heterosexuals.

Palin said she also is tolerant, "But I will tell Americans straight up that I don't support defining marriage as anything but between a man and a woman," she said.

Biden says he and Obama also believe civil marriage is a question left up to the states to decide.

Unclear if they are actually saying anything differently.

-- Billy House

... and that would seem a victory for Palin.

In fact, she's looking confident, talking directly into the camera, and is being assertive.

Biden is also doing well, but if this keeps up, the analysts will call it a draw -- and that means a victory for Palin.

-- Billy House

9:20 p.m.
Sarah Palin is playing to the camera. She smiles a lot and looks into the camera while Joe Biden is speaking, as if to say, "Can you believe this?"

That might work if, when it's her time to speak, Palin rebutted the points she has been grinning about. Instead, she goes off into other areas, such as what she did as governor. There's a disconnect between her demeanor and her words.

Her rebuttal is mostly facial mannerisms. And, what's the problem with her hair? It's getting in the way. Her bangs are apparently hitting her left eyeball, and she's blinking a lot to get the bangs away. But that's not working, because she keeps blinking. All this is ironic because of her comment in an interview with Charlie Gibson that she doesn't blink.

Biden may be boring, but he's staying on point. He's responding to points she raises.
-- Marsha Mercer

"I don't know where to start," responds Biden.

Taking money from oil companies is not a redistribution of wealth, he argues.

Then he calls McCain's health care plan, "the ultimate bridge to nowhere."

-- Billy House

Palin's now lumped Joe Six Pack in with hockey moms in saying Americans never again should be taken advantage of by mortgages.

Biden has been forced to talk about "Joey," a guy at his local gas station, to say peoplel need help now.

Palin's now lumped Joe Six Pack in with hockey moms in saying Americans never again should be taken advantage of by mortgages.

Biden has been forced to talk about "Joey," a guy at his local gas station, to say peoplel need help now.

"Hey, can I call you Joe?" Palin asks Biden as they walk on stage.

After the niceties, Biden gets the first question, about the economic crisis, and waste's no time in beating us down with detail,

Palin responds, talks about a kid's soccer game on Saturday, and said if you ask a parent about the economy, "I betcha, you're going to hear some fear in their voice." Said McCain has put politics aside to deal with the issue.

Probably, first score goes to Palin.

The VP nominees' debate takes place amid bad news for the McCain campaign. Several polls show John McCain trailing Barack Obama nationally and in battleground states.

Today news came from Michigan that McCain is abandoning his campaign in the state. He has has pulled out his campaign staff and ads so he can redeploy to states he thinks he can win -- like Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida.

Michigan was a key blue state the Republicans hoped to turn red, so this is a disappointment to the GOP. It comes on top of a lot of bad news recently -- including reviews of Sarah Palin's interviews with CBS' Katie Couric and other national and state polls.

It adds urgency to tonight's debate, which starts now.

-- Marsha Mercer

I've just been handed a "Palin Bingo" card, one of a crunch of debate-watch games inspired by the Alaska governor.

Basically, the idea is to mark your Bingo-card boxes -- each containing a different , phrase, word, or name of one of Palin's children -- whenever she happens to mention that word.

Words or names like Putin, lipstick, glass ceiling, Umm, maritime border, Track or Hockey mom.

The center box is marked, "Air Space," over a picture of the Palin.

Whenever Palin says a word or phrase in one of my card's boxes, I'm supposed to check it off. If I get to check off 5 boxes in any straight or diagnal line, I win Palin Bingo!!

-- Billy House

There's certain to be a cascade of rhetorical body blows, gaffes and surprises during what promises to be a thriller (at least as far as two people standing and debating each other goes.)

Wed, October 01, 2008 - 1:23 PM

McCain Gets New Virginia

The Republican National Committee just announced it is opening 12 new offices in Virginia in an effort to win the state’s 13 electoral votes for John McCain.

The new offices are located in Sterling, Yorktown, Charlottesville, Woodbridge, Blacksburg, Norfolk, Abingdon, Richmond, Springfield, Gainesville, Danville, and Mechanicsville.

The headquarters will organize volunteer activities, the party said in a release.

The extra offices come as the two campaigns continue to spar over the issue of clean coal.

Barack Obama’s campaign released a new TV ad today highlighting his promise to invest millions of federal dollars in improving the environmental impact of coal as an energy source and showcasing an Illinois coal miner who vouches for Obama as a man who understands the industry.

The ad is a clear indication of how the campaign has been stung by a gaffe vice presidential nominee Joe Biden made in Ohio, when he said “we are not supporting clean coal” and the ensuing ads the McCain campaign ran on the issue to amplify the mistake.

--Neil Simon

As the vice presidential candidates get ready to debate Thursday, working women’s groups want more attention devoted to issues that affect them.

Chief among them: paid sick days, equal pay and flex time for workers to care for a sick child or attend parent-teacher conferences.

“We talk to working Americans everyday,” said Debra Ness, the president of National Partnership for Women and Families in a phone briefing for reporters Wednesday. “… We are hearing a very clear message. Americans want workplace policies that are in sync with their lives.”

The country’s economic crisis will likely bring these family issues to the forefront, said Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director of the grassroots organization Moms Rising.

“Now more than ever we need policymakers and, most importantly, candidates to focus on workers that don’t work on Wall Street,” she said.

And Ness said as more women become the caretakers of aging parents, flexible workplaces will become more important in years to come.

Celinda Lake, a Democratic political pollster and strategist, said candidates are paying attention to women voters. Sixty percent of undecided voters are women and they could determine the election, she said.

“Women voters are a key target so what’s on their minds is very, very important to both campaigns,” she said.

Because all of the women’s leaders who spoke work for non-profit organizations, no one endorsed a presidential ticket.

-- Amy Dominello

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama has moved into a commanding 51 percent to 43 percent lead in Florida over John McCain, a poll released this morning shows.

Democrat Obama has managed to add to his 49-43 percent lead in Florida since Friday’s first presidential debate against Republican McCain, shows the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute “Swing State” poll.

The poll also looks at Pennsylvania and Ohio. It show Obama now has a whopping 54 percent to 39 percent lead in Pennsylvania, and a 50-42 percent lead in Ohio.

The institute’s pollsters say that Friday’s presidential debate, Gov. Sarah Palin’s sagging favorability as McCain’s running mate, and more voter confidence in Obama’s ability to handle the economy are propelling the Democrat to wider likely voter leads.

“It is difficult to find a modern competitive presidential race that has swung so dramatically, so quickly and so sharply this late in the campaign. In the last 20 days, Sen. Barack Obama has gone from seven points down to eight points up in Florida, while widening his leads to eight points in Ohio and 15 points in Pennsylvania,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the polling institute.

The post-debate findings in all three states were based on interviews between Saturday and Monday with 825 to 836 likely voters in each state, carrying a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

-- Billy House, Media General News Service