Debates are done! Where do we stand?

They're done. I think this was John McCain's best debate, but I don't think he did very well. That is because he could not. His policies and stands are not what are right for America now. He tried to frame this debate about what was wrong with Obama because he knows there is not enough substance behind his policies. He wants health care insurance to be able to be shopped across state lines, which take it from someone who sold the stuff, will raise the premiums and screw up the plans in all those states where health care and thus health insurance, are cheaper. He would rip apart the state system, which might have merit, but not for the reasons he gave. Then on abortion he explained that he would leave it to the states to go against Roe Vs. Wade because he's a Federalist. He said there would be no litmus test for judges, except he ended by saying, and I bet he wishes he'd ended a few seconds earlier, "no litmus test except a strict adherence to the constitution, but any judge that supports Roe in my opinion isn't adhering to the constitution" (I did paraphrase a little, but that was pretty close) Which is it John? Break apart state governance or a Federalist? No litmus test, but no judges who find Roe acceptable? He mis-characterizes Obama's plans but that is okay. If Joe the Plumber is rich now congratulations, many in America are not. Which leads me to my biggest gripe about Obama's performance. Enough with letting John McCain talk about redistribution of wealth and class warfare. What Obama is proposing for the richest Americans, is making the tax code fair again, by repairing the inequities that have favored them in the tax policies under George W. Bush. That is all. Fairness. Not redistribution and not class warfare, and I am disappointed that Obama has failed to clarify that. Nevertheless, as McCain still comes across as dismissive (although less so tonight), seething and petulant, Obama continues to make the case that he is the steady and Presidential figure this country wants and needs. SO where do we stand? The polls indicate it is going for Obama and I do not see that anything changed that tonight. We shall see what the polls continue to say. Some have questioned, with some statistical merit, that in some ways the race and in particular the electoral race is closer than it appears. Maybe, but the momentum for change seems t be with the candidate the people are embracing as the agent of change. I have said it before, and I say it again, there is nothing so scary about the unknowns of Obama compared to all the mistakes and poor policies John McCain has made and proposed, much less all his poor choices in support of much of the W. Bush agenda. Tonight, he could have tried to turn the tide by really speaking to the people about how his policies could benefit them. Instead, as he has done, he gave short answers about how he was going to take care of everything (because, you know, this stuff is all so easy) and then made this about why Obama was not a good choice. It did not work for George H.W. Bush against Clinton, and it is not going to work against Obama now. I look forward to all of us trying to take a President Obama's good starting plan for health care reform, and moving it into a true agenda for reform needed for the 21st century and beyond. WHat is best about this situation though, is Obama has shown he has a command and plausible agenda for most of the aspects of the Presidency. He is not a one issue candidate, which is fortunate because this is not a one issue nation. God bless this great country of ours, the men and women out there risking their lives to defend it, and all of us, as we move forward and show the entire world that the best times for the greatest nation ever on the face of this earth---are ahead of us!