Obama and McCain on heathcare
Obama and McCain on heathcare

October was another pretty good month for PDRater.com. During the month of October, the traffic for this website increased by about 25%, I added a few new calculator features, I completely changed the look of the website, and we passed the 200 registered users mark. ((At the time of this post, 227 registered users!))

In no particular order, I’m including my favorite “photoshopped” pictures from October on the right side.  The footnotes below link to the original photographers.  None of them are to blame for the photoediting.  ((Special thanks to the kind people who use Flickr for making their photos available for use.)) ((Photos courtesy of richardmasoner, C_Dave, and mikewade.)) ((Photo courtesy of DaveHogg.)) ((Photo courtesy of Daniel Martini.))

Top Posts Awards:

Obama vs McCain: Round 3
Obama vs McCain: Round 3

2008 Presidential Election Coverage:

2008 Economic Turmoil Coverage:

*PDRater up, the Dow down
PDRater up, the Dow down

I added on to my “Road Warrior Checklists”:

In case you’re interested, here’s the best of September 2008.

Obama McCain Fight*
Obama McCain Fight

First, my advice for the candidates (you know, from my years of political experience):

  • Obama: Way way too many “uh’s”.  It makes you look unprepared.
  • McCain: Don’t wander around in the background.  At best it is disrespectful, at worst it makes you look befuddled and lost.

By any of the polling numbers, Obama went into last night’s debate so far ahead in the polls that the only way for McCain to really come back would be for Obama to commit some terrible blunder.  ((Photo courtesy of DaveHogg.  Photo editing, all me!)) I imagine it would have taken something like this:

My impressions from the debate:

  • McCain said last night he wants to purchase all the bad loans in the United States and renegotiate them?  He’s suggesting resetting these loans to the present value of these homes.
    • First of all, where the hell was this guy before we spent $700,000,000,000.00???
    • Second, this sounds like a really tragically flawed idea.  If you buying loans high and then forgive hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, you’re basically giving hundreds of thousands of dollars per bad loans to those banks who had poor judgment in the first place.
    • Third, if you’re going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per bad loan, why not just give them to the people who purchased the homes rather than the bank?
    • Fourth, if you’re going to buy the loans and then forgive a large chunk of them, why do you need to buy them?  Just tell the bank to adjust those loans.
  • Obama thinks the government invented computers so our defense department could communicate over long distances.  The defense project DARPA was invented that way, not computers.  I’m wondering if Obama lost the nerd vote there.
  • McCain wants to put medical records on the internet.  We can NOT put medical records online.
    • Government and business websites get hacked every day.  The last thing we need are our records posted on Craigslist.
    • As it stands, medical records enjoy a special protection in our system.  If that information is all online, it would be a simple task for our government to tap into that information.  This may sound paranoid until you recall that the NSA under the Bush administration has already done something far more invasive.
  • Tom Brokaw is a terrible, terrible moderator.  When someone is over their time, you cut them off.  Better yet, shut off their mike.  Don’t whine about it after they stop – that just invites apologies and “witty” comments.
  • McCain says he’ll double the tax exemption for each child.  Yay!  More babies!

McCain & Palin
McCain & Palin
Obama & Biden
Obama & Biden

I love watching political debates with a DVR.  There’s nothing like being able to pause the debate so the candidates can benefit from my sage advice or criticism developed over my many years of political, economic, and foreign policy experience.

That said, I have the following debate advice for the candidates:

  • Barak Obama
    • Stay focused and be concise.
  • John McCain
    • Keep your arguments and comments accurate.
  • Joe Biden
    • Eye contact with the camera.
  • Sarah Palin
    • Never, EVER wink at the camera again if you want to be taken seriously.
    • Not answering the question doesn’t make you a maverick, it makes you look uninformed.

Overall, the presidential debate of 9/26 was a dead heat.  I don’t think either side won ground that day.  It was one of the best presidential debates I have ever seen.  Frankly, both McCain and Obama did a great job.  The last time I enjoyed a debate as much was Clinton v G.H. Bush.

Historically, the vice presidential debate is hardly ever a deal maker or breaker – and its just as well for both parties.  When speaking in interviews off the cuff, Biden can make ridiculous and wildly historically inaccurate claims.  On the other hand, the Palin – Couric interviews made it clear that Palin can’t speak off script.

I can’t wait for the next debate tomorrow night!