There will be plenty of spin on the debates tonight and over the next couple of days from both campaigns and the media, including continuous spin from people like Josh Marshall.

You'll get none from me, because you don't need it.  That's the good news.  The bad news is I won't be reading your spin either.

I don't need you to tell me what I heard and what to think about it.  I'll decide for myself. 

So I'm going to enjoy the debate tonight, think about what I heard, and decide for myself which candidate is best for me and my family.

Next week, I'll see what the polls show about who the voters think should be leading America into the post-Bush era.  And I'll try to understand why.

See you in a couple of days.

Courtesy David Kurtz on the front page. McCain camp in response to question of whether debate will go on Friday with an empty podium: Obama can always debate Joe Biden instead.

Once again, McCain has grabbed the bully pulpit.

Let's go over the McCain strategy one more time.

With Palin holding down the Republican base, McCain is free to run against Obama, the Bush administration, the Democratic Congress and the prior Republican Congress.  He is free to wing it, play the maverick, be as unconventional as he pleases, and to be hard headed in, as he likes to say, putting his country above his political career. 

Now Bush, following McCain's lead, has summoned Obama to Washington.

In a few minutes, Bush will go on television and he will probably threaten to call a special session of Congress if the bailout is not on his desk this weekend.

McCain has scored a number of points.  If the Congress stays in session, he gets credit.  If Bush calls a special session, McCain gets credit.  If the bailout gets passed and signed, McCain gets credit.  Obama is going to Washington?  Unfortunately, McCain gets credit for that idea, too.

Obama has gambled that the American people would rather see a debate than see the financial crisis solved.  And he's gambling with our money.

The Obama campaign got taken by surprise today.  They should have cut their losses and thrown in with the old man.  Instead, they opened themselves up to a lecture on bi-partisanship and patriotism from McCain.

I wonder if anyone has any real information on what the number of yard signs for a candidate means in an election?

I live in one of the most racially divided communities in America, and I'm seeing more and more Obama-Biden signs in yards on the "white" side of town.

Does anyone really know what that means?