As we enter the convention with tote bags endorsed by Coca Cola and AT&T , I wonder if there is a healthy debate for this country. I wonder if the FISA vote was to make Denver super, or just to get some 'soft' money. If we scream at the republicans, we must be willing to scream at ourselves. The belief we should wait is ridiculous, because the attention span of our country is so short , we will forget.
Take China for example. We love to scream Darfur when speaking of their government, but we fail to mention Myanmar to our Democratic Congress. If we continue to ignore our own obvious faults, then the security of Denver will become status quo.  OK, Michelle gave a wonderful speech, but that speech doesn't bring us healthcare, nor a healthy debate about Afghanistan. It is time to move the Democratic party towards the real center of this country, and it can only be done with healthy debate amongst ourselves and with low income conservatives.

Rep. Congressman Virgil Goode and Dem. challenger Tom Perriello faced off for the first time on August 13th in a forum that demonstrated the wide gap between the two of them - especially when it comes to immigration policy.  Virgil has repeatedly touted his fence: "There's no way a 12 foot ladder will cross this fence."

A little help of some visual aids would be useful in understanding Virgil's complex "3 tier" fence policy that was outlined in 5 parts?

"Its a three tier fence:

1. Fence Here, 2. Roadway Here, 3. Barrier Here, 4. Road Here, 5. Fence Here."

As we approach the DNCC and the start of the true head-to-head campaign, and the volume of rhetoric and outright lies increases, I find myself occasionally beating my head against the (usually metaphorical) brick wall about the smears and misinformation I'm hearing from otherwise well-informed people I respect.  Some are Democrats expressing some concern but planning on voting for Senator Obama anyway; others are not.  Some can be reached, others not so much, but I'm not always sure to whom to direct my efforts.

Cong. Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Lindsey Graham have completed the debate negotiations.  Here's what the campaigns have agreed to:

First Presidential Debate.  Friday, Sept. 26

• Site: University of Mississippi
• Topic: Foreign Policy & National Security
• Moderator: Jim Lehrer
• Staging: Podium debate
• Answer Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment

Vice Presidential Debate. Thursday, October 2nd

• Site: Washington University in St. Louis
• Moderator: Gwen Ifill
• Staging/Answer Format: To be resolved after both parties’ Vice Presidential nominees are selected.

Second Presidential Debate.  Tuesday, October 7

• Site: Belmont University (Nashville, TN)
• Moderator: Tom Brokaw
• Staging: Town Hall debate
• Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or internet), and not the moderator.

Third Presidential Debate, Wednesday, October 15

• Site: Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY)
• Topic: Domestic and Economic policy
• Moderator: Bob Schieffer
• Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table
• Answer Format: Same as First Presidential Debate
• Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.

All debates will begin at 9PM eastern.  The candidates have also agreed to the Commission on Presidential Debates' rules on third-party candidate eligiblity, which require candidates to (a) be constitutionally eligible to the office, (b) be on enough state ballots to win 270 electoral votes, and (c) "have a level of support of at least 15% (fifteen percent) of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations' most recent publicly-reported results at the time of the determination."  In other words, Bob, Cynthia & Ralph?  You'll be watching.

And a creepy, Oprah-esque, conformity-worshiping, pop church at that.

Look how far America has fallen.  In a scene that would have met howls of laughter just ten years ago, we are treated to the denigrating spectacle of two candidates for President of the United States pleading their cases to a fat pig Pastor Rick Warren at his at Saddleback Church and trying their best to put answers to the insane religo-babble questions being tossed off by this sanctimonious fatbody (hey.. isn't gluttony a sin?)

Thanks to technology, we're making history, again, tonight here in Idaho.

Beginning at 9:30pm ET tonight, Independent Rex Rammell and I will be having the first debate of the general election campaign for U.S. Senate here in Idaho -- and for the first time in Idaho history, we'll be broadcasting the debate on the internet and taking questions live from folks like you watching it online, right here at DailyKos and across the internet.

Tonight's forum is a new kind of debate that uses the power of technology to put the debate in your hands. So please, join us below the fold to watch the debate and ask your questions in real-time starting at 9:30pm ET!

UPDATE (8:45pm MT): I've now updated the diary with a copy of the video from tonight's debate.  Thanks so much for everyone from DailyKos who tuned in and participated!

This is a diary of depression mixed with anger. It's based on two men who successfully avoided both while they faced the thing we all fear the most: Death. Leroy Sievers and Randy Pausch both made peace with their impending death, knowing that not only was it was inevitable as it is for all, but imminent. They faced death and did not display anger and depression, and that is where I admit I am not so strong. I am ashamed to be alive in light of the spirit that they displayed throughout the moments we know we will all face - but don't believe we have to day to day.

I'm seething inside after watching Saturday night's transparent panderings to the religious right; who's hubris in co-opting the phrase "culture of life" is unforgivable. I feel they have absolutely no credibility to claim any moral standing on life at all and I'll explain why.

In the Debate:

"My friends, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. Now, I don't know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue, but the point is... but the point is it was three million dollars of your money."

In Clawson, Mich. (obtained from an article published February 8th), here.

"Outrageous... $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana... I don't know if it was a paternity issue or criminal, but it was a waste of money."

Never mind that the DNA research was done as part of the Endangered Species Act.

Barack Obama and John McCain are scheduled to make a quasi-joint appearance tomorrow evening at Pastor Rick Warren's Faith Forum.  The event is scheduled for 8 p.m. eastern time and will be televised live on CNN and MSNBC.

I hope Obama takes this opportunity to ask McCain the perfect zinger, in exactly the right forum and context.  If you agree that this is a good tactic for Obama, join me in emailing his campaign and urging him to ask McCain the question I've drafted -- below the fold.

If Massachusetts Democratic Primary challenger Ed O'Reilly has a chance to debate incumbent John Kerry, we'll learn that Kerry is not a Massachusetts Democrat! That's what's motivating Kerry's avoidance of debates.

On every major issue, John Kerry fails to uphold MA Democratic platform and principles. Here's a quick summary:

1. Single-Payer Health Care: The Democratic Party gave the country the original single payer systems: Medicaid, Medicare, and the Veterans Health Administration. Massachusetts Democrats continue to advocate for a single payer health system for all citizens. Party Platform

I was just reading a diary, walking in my own little boxed in space when I read something someone posted that made me go...

"Hmmmm"

Ok, maybe that is the edited choice of words.

I do not swear, here nor in "real life"

But if I did, my reaction would be something along the lines of:

"What the Blankety Blank Blank did he just blankety blank blank"

But what came out was more like:

"Rather, I say, what is that chap trying to say?"

<more after the break>

I didn't get to see Norm Coleman's brilliant white teeth glistening in the morning light in Redwood Falls, MN.  I didn't get to watch Al Franken call out Norm for his close ties to President Bush and the corporations that fund his campaign.  I had to work ... ya know pay da billz and all that.  But everyone else was there.  The annual Farm Fest hosted the first MN-SEN forum.

This is solid Republican territory.  At least it used to be.  With fewer and fewer people self-identifying as Republicans in polling, this was the first test of how Al Franken's message would play.  This was also a test of how Norm Coleman's ability to cover his *** for 7 1/2 years of supporting President Bush and the corporations that fund him would go over.

I was horrifed to read this on the frontpage ...

First presidential debate
Friday, September 26
The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Jim Lehrer
Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS

... because Mr. Leher was the perpetrator of the first 2000 Bush V. Gore debate in which his "style" was particularly ill-suited to the outright lies and falsehoods GWB parroted throughout the course of the debate.

One of the main reasons that I really enjoy politics is that I love philosophy. Some people love nothing more then the idea of sitting around discussing philosophical tenets, while others would find watching paint dry or getting their fingernails pulled out as a more welcome option then a discussion of philosophy.

This diary, I hope, is for those people in the first camp. In a prior diary a few days (weeks maybe?) back a discussion came up and this is a continuation of that topic.

<More after the break.>

And to counter that potential image the Rovian-quasi-Aikido politics of projection-deflection, attack first has been put into overdrive. All attack videos are the fruit of a strategy that kicked into high gear when it looked like Obama would win the nomination.

This topic has been gone over and over of late so at the risk of being yet another I have tried to cover it all in a summary that hits all the main elements.

Reasonable pre-assumptions on Obama positives are taken as attacks by The McCain campaign so they invert them as attacks to weaken Obama where he is strong, especially where McCain has a severe opposite weakness. All politicians and campaigns do this of course...it's just that McCain's effort goes the extra mile in deceit and underhandedness. The slick, centralized mean-spirited attacks always set new benchmarks for what can and will be done.

Like a Very expensive team of lawyers the guilty as hell Republican party will get their client (McCain/Bush) off scot free and have him smelling like roses and win their case. At the end the crusading Prosecutor (Obama) will end up looking like he should be found guilty instead....

More after the fold.

Everyone's talking how McCain's closing the gap on Obama andit seems as though people are getting concerned that Obama may lose this.

Well, now's not the time to be so concerned. It's still early.

Mccain's people should be concerned with how they are doing and they actually are as evidenced by the obviously desperately nasty campaign ads he's been running.

Let's take a look

Some of the other threads today had me thinking.  I think Obama could turn the tables on the debates very easily.  

Obama could setup Townhalls or debates (whatever you want to call them) with other 3rd party candidates.  Barr and Nader would be fine.  Leave an empty chair for McCain, and challenge him to show up.  

More after the fold...

It’s time for a debate, town hall style, between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama.

The audience should be randomly drawn from the local phone book by an authorized accountant firm.

A letter should be written by the accounting firm, inviting the person from the random drawing to the town hall debate.  A response card should be included in this letter for the person to return by a certain date.

No direct contact with this person, by either party, should be allowed.
If they are able to attend, they should show up at the gate/door the date and time of the debate.  Each attendee shall be given a number that will also be put into a bucket.

All questions will be made by the attendee that has his or her number drawn from that bucket.