Last night, Sens. McCain and Obama met for the Al Smith Dinner in New York City. Pretty funny stuff. Here’s the video series. Enjoy.

Obama - Part 1:

Obama - Part 2:

McCain - Part 1:

McCain - Part 2:

Ok, maybe not the whole truth but this is great.

TIME’S Michael Scherer writes on Swampland:

This morning John McCain put out a list of 100 former ambassadors who are supporting his campaign. Number two is Lenore Annenberg, the wife of Ambassador William Annenberg, the founder of the Annenberg Institute of Reform, which funded the Annenberg Challenge, which once had two famous board members: former “domestic terrorist” William Ayers and Sen. Barack Obama.

So either we should all be outraged that John McCain is supported by a family who funded a foundation that hired a domestic terrorist, or this whole William Ayers thing is just plain silly. I choose the latter.

With poll numbers sliding, the McCain campaign has taken up a strategy of distraction. They want to stop discussing the economy and start hammering Obama on his loose ties to Bill Ayers and to his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

The McCain campaign has made a serious miscalculation in their strategy. They assumed that after the bailout bill passed last week, the markets would bounce back and confidence would be restored. Well, that hasn’t happened, and now their lack of economic focus makes them look out of touch and petty.

Obama’s camp hit back today, releasing this documentary film on John McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five. This is good political strategy, but don’t you all wish we could stick to the issues? As the global economy melts down, I’d rather hear solutions, not just attacks.

In one month from tomorrow, this will all be over. If you live in Virginia or Washington, D.C. - remember that today is the last day to register to vote!

After the debate ended last night, I got a couple emails and texts from friends and family who wanted to know what I thought about the show. Here are some of my musings on last nights debate.

Gov. Palin went into the debate with a pretty easy task - she couldn’t fall, she couldn’t have another deer-in-headlights moment, she couldn’t trip over words - she simply had to be Sarah Palin. To that end, she accomplished her singular goal. I don’t think she fell, she hit her basic talking points and she didn’t get lost in her words, like we saw in the network interviews.

However, she didn’t answer questions, she evaded policy issues, she brought everything back to the topics she wanted to discuss and personally, I found her folksy “Joe six-pack” lingo and overall presentation to be absolutely nauseating.

Seriously folks, we tried the slow-talking, colloquial, down home politician thing - his name was George W. Bush. How well did that work out?

Sarah Palin is out of her league, not because she is a woman, but because she’s not up to the task of running America. She regurgitated a stump speech last night and showed no mastery or command of issues. The mere thought of he serving as Vice President of the United States literally scares me. She’s not ready for prime time, she’s not ready to lead America.

For his part, Biden was good. I expected Biden to be good, he’s been at this for many years. He showed a command of policy, a leadership on important issues and even showed an emotional side when he spoke of his family and the loss of his first wife in a tragic car accident when he was 29 years old.

Last night’s debate didn’t move voters. It may have stopped the Palin slide that we’ve seen over the past couple weeks, but I don’t think anyone changed their mind based on the performance of either of these candidates. At the end of the day, I urge Americans to think past the novelty of Sarah Palin and remember that Bush is our living, breathing example that hiring someone into the executive merely on style is a mistake. Listen to what these people are saying, not just how they are saying it. This time around, I have confidence in the American people to do the right thing.

If you missed the debate, here’s the full broadcast courtesy of our friends at MSNBC.

A good video from Americans United.

Many of us have been waiting for an TV ad like this out of the Obama camp. It’s time to call a spade a spade and a liar a liar.

Another funny video from Public Service Administration…

“What you’re going to see is a great debate. Which is what the American public deserves. None of this negative stuff, though. You won’t see it come out of our side at all.”

–Cindy McCain, Today Show, May 8, 2008