Debate

Not a good night for McCain. Why exactly is it a good idea for me and my fellow taxpayers to help our overextending neighbors pay for houses that were always beyond their means? Yes, he wants to put a floor under housing prices -- but price setting is what a government does worst.

It's a shame that McCain didn't realize years ago that political power is about economics, and gone to school on the subject. He's so good, but he lacks any central and convincing message on the economy, or explanation of how Washington's narcissism threatens it.

Obama -- he's like R.E.M. The first five minutes sound great, but the more you listen, the more every answer sounds the same, and then you wonder why that is, and then you start to realize the whole thing is just one set of talking points after another. I don't hear any serious effort to engage any subject, and he treats every topic as an opportunity to sound prepared and thoughtful rather than communicate his own philosophy. I find this kind of thing maddening, because there is absolutely no chance of convincing a guy like this of anything, and very little hope of learning anything from him.

I'm worried the next four years are going to be pretty bad.