Last week on the day the Dow had its astounding 770 point loss, I asked how much can you afford to lose? I mentioned:

I don't have any investments, but my mother has a modest amount that is used to pay for her nursing home care. ... Today, she lost thousands.

Friday, the bailout agreement agreement passed and things have gotten worse. Yesterday and today she lost thousands more. All in so-called "large cap" (less-risky) stocks that supposedly always come back. I hope she lives that long.

I don't know many people who can lose such huge sums in a week and keep on trucking. Here's what I think it means for the election. [More...]

Matt Yglesias makes a good point, this is Tom Brokaw's town hall, not anybody else's:

In essence, Tom Brokaw and his staff will be asking the questions. They’re sifting through a big group of people, and their pre-set questions, and picking the questions they like. Meanwhile, though, Brokaw and co. get to evade responsibility for the questions if people don’t like them — it was real people asking!

So whoever gets mad about the questions - and someone will, Dem or GOP, the guy to blame is Tom Brokaw. Keith Olbermann will not tell you that.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

I took a peek at Blogometer and I see the Right is trying to pin the economic troubles we have on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now, the argument is hogwash on an intellectual level and I'll go through why tomorrow. But for the purposes of this election, it is incredible hogwash. Why? Because George Bush became President in 2001. Why? Because Republicans controlled the Congress from 1995 to 2007.

If Fannie and Freddie were the problem, why in the hell didn't the Republicans fix it from 1994 until now? Barack Obama showed up in Washington, DC in 2005. Fannie and Freddie have been around for 40 years. What the hell was the Republican Party doing during its 12 years of dominance of the Congress and 8 years of dominance of the White House? If Fannie and Freddie were the problem, why didn't the Republicans fix it? Maybe we can ask Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, who made millions as a Fannie and Freddie lobbyist.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

On Sunday I wrote a long post on the plight of the Uighur Chinese Muslim detainees at Guantanamo and the court hearing that would be held today.

The Center for Constitutional Rights and the ACLU reports (link will be available here) the Judge did in fact order their release into the U.S.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina in Washington, D.C. rejected the Bush administration’s position of indefinitely holding the detainees, known as Uighurs, since they are not considered enemy combatants. The Uighurs have been held in Guantánamo for seven years.

More...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin claimed during the Vice Presidential Debate:

"When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars to make sure we weren't doing anything that would be seen as condoning the activities there in Darfur." --Sarah Palin, Oct. 2, 2008, VP Debate

Not so, say Alaska Dems in a press release today. In fact, adds Shannyn Moore, she lied. [More...]

Despite writing for the traditional print media, Richard Cohen tells us today that he joins Sarah Palin in not having "a very high opinion of the mainstream media." Palin has been dutifully mouthing the standard, unimaginative Republican attack on the "librul media." Cohen hints at the more responsible point (although not in these words): a double standard governs much of the corporate media, one that lets Republicans avoid serious scrutiny while magnifying Republican smears that are leveled against Democrats.

Take, for instance, the GOP's insistence that Sarah Palin is qualified to be vice president because she's a regular gal, a hockey mom who raised a family while gaining some modest political experience. What would happen if Democrats ran a candidate who winked at the camera in lieu of giving straight answers to difficult questions?

[more ...]

We'll be live blogging the debate tonight, I assume with all hands (J, TLKid, TChris and me.) In the meantime, here is an Open Thread.

John Dickerson of Slate has a good article on how Bill Clinton handled a losing Republican candidate's attempts to change the subject from the economy to the Democratic candidate's "character:"

In 1992, the moment symbolized the disconnect between Bush and the electorate: He wanted to talk about character, while America was pleading for solutions. The president compounded his problem when he inartfully handled a woman's inartful question about how the "national debt" had hurt him personally. (Bush was also caught looking at his wristwatch twice during the evening.) Clinton knew how to take advantage of the moment. "I worked 12 years very hard as a governor on the real problems of real people. I'm just as sick as you are by having to wake up and figure out how to defend myself every day. I never thought I'd ever be involved in anything like this."

(Emphasis supplied.) Of course, as Jack Shafer writes, Bill Clinton was the master of the town hall. And the greatest politician of his generation. But still, something for Obama to draw from.

Steve M. found the video:

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

The Washington Post Online has the most incredible headline I have seen in some time - NOTE - WaPo changed the headline (I take full credit for the change):

Fed Moves To Assist Main Street Businesses

Central bank will buy up commercial paper, the short-term debt that large companies across the country use to fund their day-to-day operations.

(Emphasis supplied.) That's helping Main Street? Only in the Beltway cocktail party set could that possibly be the headline for handouts to Fortune 500 companies. And you can't blame the headline writer. Here is the first graf of the story:

On the eve of the second Presidential townhall/debate, the polls show Barack Obama with a significant lead. DKos/R2000 (10/4-6) has Obama up 11, 52-41. Ras (10/4-6) has Obama up 8, 52-44. Gallup (10/3-5) has Obama up 8, 50-42. Hotline (10/4-6) has Obama up 2, 46-44. Battleground (10/4-6) has Obama up 7, 50-43. And just for fun, the charlatan John Zogby has started a tracking poll for Reuters with Obama leading by 3, 49-46.

Among the non-trackers, NBC/WSJ (10/4-5) has Obama up 6, 49-43. NYT/CBS (10/3-5) has Obama up 3, 48-45. CNN/Opinion Research (10/3-5) has Obama up 8, 53-45.

By Big Tent Democrat

Joining the Columbus Dispatch poll (Obama by 7), the ABC/WaPo Ohio poll has Obama up 6, 51-45.

Fun fact:

No Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio, and the state's 20 electoral votes are of paramount importance to McCain.

By Big Tent Democrat

While John McCain is erratic, angry and desperate about his own political fortunes as opposed to the country's problems (country first, my ass), the American People are angry and desperate about the economy.

Tonight's debate/town hall is a chance for Barack Obama to explain, argue for and detail how he will help Main Street, homeowners and ordinary Americans in this time of economic distress. Yesterday, John McCain flip flopped - after first saying "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" he now says "this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression" (and he would know). Of course John McCain is more interested in talking about the Weather Underground than the economy. This is not surprising as he admits himself he knows nothing about the economy.

Barack Obama needs to tell the American People what he will do to help us through these tough times, how he will help Main Street. John McCain is a prop tonight. What we need to hear is Obama have a conversation with the American People about what matters. I hope he does it.

by Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only