Below-Average Joe, Playing Defense, and Obama Explains the Birds and the Bees! 18 Days to Go!

But first, a debate recap:

Yes, I swear it's unaltered. But we're not done with our post-debate roundup.


--> One small detail that I missed from Wednesday's electrifying policy showdown was John McCain's discussion of small business taxes. Thankfully, Michael Kinsley caught it for us:

“Fifty percent of small business income taxes are paid by small business.”

— Senator John McCain, during the third presidential debate, October 15

Kinsley goes on to argue against the basic premise of helping small businesses so much, but I'll leave that one to the economists. This is a political blog, and we are not in the business of real world problems here.

--> Also, the "Joe the Plumber" phenomenon simply won't die. He was on the cover of the New York Times today. And it turns out that his characterization at the debate wasn't all that accurate. Well, for starters, his name isn't Joe. And he's not a plumber. So right off the bat, the nickname isn't all that fitting. Plus, he owes over $1000 in back taxes. He's registered under the wrong last name. And, to top it all off, he's related to Charles Keating.

This was still a fairly interesting example of how both candidates shamelessly flaunt themselves as friends of blue-collar folk. It's odd that, if you judged solely based on presidential campaigns, you'd think that every American drank a six-pack every night, owned a rifle, sat at the dining room table with their spouse and talked about their financial troubles, struggled to put their kids through college, and had some sort of medical condition that wouldn't be covered by their health insurance. Those are the people that every bit of this campaign (on both sides) has been directed towards. And while those categories may be large, and certainly needing help from the government, they're not the only people in the country. I'd love to hear more from either side about what they're going to do for blue-collar Americans, white-collar Americans, collarless Americans, rich, poor, healthy, sick. Our campaign has become an empathy contest, instead of a discussion of concrete policies and what their impacts will be.

--> Meanwhile, on the business of connecting with Americans, Sarah Palin will join her alter-ego on SNL this Saturday. It's truly going to be a must-see cameo, followed by a must-change-the-channel poorly-written episode. Why do people actually watch that show anymore?

--> United States Congressman John Murtha (D-PA), however, truly seems to understand his constituents. Representing an older, more traditional district in Western Pennsylvania, one would assume that he would be...evasive of the issue that some of his constituents remain hesitant to vote for a black candidate, or at least apologetic. Instead, Murtha gives the media some good old fashioned straight talk:

"There's no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area."

The first step is admitting you have a problem...

Kudos for Murtha for pointing out the moral failings of the voters that keep electing him, and good luck on Election Day!

--> Of course, fear certainly trumps empathy (and even race) in today's political culture, and no one plays with fear better than the Republican National Committee. They sent this mailing into North Carolina and Nevada in an effort to get McCain into the White House before anyone notices that their pants are on fire.

--> However, in today's edition of EDC, Senator Barack Obama is the obvious winner of Empathy Champion (otherwise known as President-Elect). A few weeks ago, I was rather startled to find an email in my college mail account from Barack Obama entitled, "It's Time for the Talk." Well, despite my confidence in the existence of a stork and my confusion as to why an elected official would take such an interest in one's personal life, I decided to click the email and discover what Barack had to say. Luckily, the message was about politics, not sex. The campaign is urging college students (already well-informed and decisively pro-Obama) to sit down with their ignorant, uneducated family members and explain to them the facts of life, or at least political life. More specifically, you should talk to any older relatives who aren't already on the Democratic bandwagon, hit them with a sledgehammer, then take their identification and pose as them at their polling place in a crucial swing state on Election Day. At least, that's what I think the message was; I got bored after I lost hope that Senator Obama would explain to me where babies come from.

--> Meanwhile, the Obama campaign, apparently convinced of their lead in national and battleground state polls, has decided to start expanding into non-traditional battlegrounds like West Virginia, Georgia, North Dakota, and Kentucky. Of course, the Kentucky and Georgia buys are more likely directed towards propping up Democratic Senate candidates Bruce Lunsford and Jim Martin than actually winning the states' electoral votes. However, the move represents a large degree of confidence that we are headed for an Election Night landslide.

Reportedly, in the final 10 days before the election, after confirming the likelihood of winning all 50 states, Barack Obama will utilize his massive campaign war chest and begin running ads in Canada, Spain, and Pakistan, mostly as a way of mocking his opponent. The campaign also considered dropping leaflets about the candidate on Cuba, but decided that the move might accidentally spark a panic of an impending invasion (no reason to give that away just yet).

--> And speaking of mocking, EDC would like to leave you in a lighter note today, urging you to watch the videos of Senators Obama and McCain, face to face for the last time before the election, speaking at the historic Al Smith Dinner in New York City last night. West Wing fans will recognize the dinner as the title/subject of a season 7 episode, and wonder whether Obama and McCain had a showdown in the kitchen before heading on stage. Non-Sorkinites will have to be content with enjoying the surprisingly hilarious comedy stylings of the next President of the United States and the next still-just-a-senator-from Arizona of the United States.

--> Also, you might appreciate this news about Will Ferrell apparently being inspired by Josh Brolin. $5 says that the show starts, "My fellow Americans. can I please have your attention. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you're doing and listen."

Oh yeah, and you NEED to watch the greatest interview of all time, courtesy of Jon Stewart and Richard Lewis.