If you can't say something to someone's face...

Part of me wants to feel sorry for Sen. Grumpy. But I get over it fast.

Sen. McCain (you know, "that one" the white guy) is clearly uncomfortable with the negative route his campaign has taken as recently as this last weekend. Why else would he completely avoid making any comments to Sen. Obama's face about William Ayers or Rev. Wright in front of a huge TV audience.

Try as he might to cover, McCain is stuck with Gov. "I can see Russia from my House" Palin as his running mate when he really wanted Joe Lieberman. He's saddled with running after eight years of disastrous policies that he originally voted against but then was forced to move to adopt to win the Repub. nomination. The economy takes a dive and everyone, including Gov. YouBetcha, calls for massive government regulation of the financial sector--something you've campaigned and voted against for many years. Everyone is thinking about Alternative Energy, and you've got a record of voting against every possible form of alternative fuels for your entire Senate career.

If your opponent wasn't a black man, and half the country really stupid, you'd be 30 points behind instead of 8.

Nevertheless, a few more points from last night's debate....

If you can't say something to someone to their face, as my momma says, you shouldn't say it. How dare you send your running mate out to blast smear tactics and then simply act like that isn't happening during the debate.

If you, a Republican, are going to announce a plan for a second massive bailout of failed mortgages on national television, you might want to 1) remember your record on deregulation; 2) actually have some specifics of the plan to talk about.

How, in the name of Michael Moore, could you to through nearly 3 hours of debates without even using the phrase "middle class." Can you pretend to care, at least? Are you that out of touch with what is happening in this country?

Stop spouting the lies. (This goes for both candidates, actually.) Isn't there enough to talk about without misstating each other's record. There's a lot of bad juju going on out there, boys and girls, and we want real answers, not fabrications and empty promises.

I'm tired of hearing McCain talk about 800 billion in "new" Obama spending without talking about the planned budgetary offsets that generally make it a wash. Stop saying you are for "alternative energy" when every single vote you have cast says otherwise. There are reasons a person could vote for you, your energy record is not it.

If you proclaim yourself a master of the "town hall" format, it helps to remember the name of the voter asking you a question. Also, going after Tom Brokaw for asking you a question wasn't funny, it made you look petulant.

Also, MSNBC and CSPAN showed Sen. Obama after the debate, staying and talking to the crowd, signing autographs, and generally making those in the room feel like he gave a damn. You were out of there when the last question ended. What does that say to the folks who came to see you? You know, the ones from the...what is it again...that group of people above the poverty line but not in the higher tax brackets...I can't remember what they are called.... can you?

Read the NYT tear McCain a new one today.