And calm the hell down.

If not, I second the vodka suggestion. Or perhaps a nice single malt scotch. Very comforting. Maybe a lavender sachet, too.

Volunteer for some phone work. It always makes me calm down when I work toward the solution. Try it. I guarantee you'll feel better.

take a breath, take a drink, make some calls, donate some money, talk to a neighbor or relative... rest assured that we are all in this together and we will look out for each other

It has always been very foolish for anyone to believe this election was ever "in the bag" for the president. Like you, I was appalled at his horrendous debate performance but it really isn't the end of the world. Romney lied his way through this debate, but I doubt the president will allow him to get away it it a second time.

Everyone had been expecting an October surprise...just not that Romney would finally feel comfortable enough to tell his right wing base to go F themselves.... If the campaign is smart they'll take this opportunity to sew some seeds of doubt in those wing nuts...
But my actual point is that the October surprise could have been something much worse...It could have been Europe imploding, bringing down our fragile economic recovery. Or it could have been the Middle East exploding, eroding all the confidence the nation has in Obama's foreign policy while sending gasoline and heating oil prices through the roof. So, if this is a bad as it gets...we are actually quite fortunate....This is something from which the president can recover...the others, not so much.

Republicans were extremely disheartened before the debate.
Mitt's hyperactive performance convinced them that at least he still wants it.
So they are now re-energized.
I don't believe Obama actually lost any voters because of the debate.
Maybe a small number of undecideds went for Mitt because of the debate.
But... not enough, I believe.
Having said all this, I think we should all worry a little, and take nothing for granted.

Our side had them on the ropes, totally. And now they come roaring
back. What kind of campaign strategy is that? If Obama's performance
costs him and us this election, it will be historically recorded as an epic
fail. And more importantly, it may cost us what is left of our country.

I do not understand how the Obama team could have been so causal
and unprepared for Romney's onslaught. Even we knew that he had been
preparing since August. They had to know he would take every opportunity
in front of 60 million interested citizens to once again change his story.

Besides, in addition to energizing the base, it re-erergized the media
narrative that this is a horse race and Romney is closing fast.

That is what I am saying. It is not good to give him an opportunity to do so.

Don't get too freaked out; there's only been 2 days of post-debate polling. Yes Romney will see a bounce, but the big news about the unemployment rate will, I think, neutralize that bounce fairly quickly. People care more about jobs and unemployment than they do about these debates.

Also, incumbent presidents have pretty much always not done so well in their first debate in four years. Their challenger has been practicing with many debates during their primaries. The challenger can just attack, attack, attack the incumbent's record. The incumbent has to both defend his own record AND try to go after his challenger, and try to balance this.

Reagan was really bad in his first debate in 1984. He seemed out of it and made his age seem like a real issue. Mondale got a pretty decent-sized bounce. But the momentum swung back after the 2nd debate.

The polls were simply to mess with our heads.

Now, the people have to decide if they love Mitt as much as they think or if they hate Obama as much as they think?

I think the President is in a better position frankly. I think more folks would have voted for Romney, especially independents, if they thought he didn't have a chance.

The debate is now sooooooooooo Wednesday. Since then we've had a positive job report and by Monday there'll be some other next big thing for political junkies and the corporate media to obsess about. This is a marathon, not a sprint. To his credit, President Obama has done very well and won almost every news cycle since June...one bad day and the clutched pearls show up.

I don't think that's such a bad thing as this has always been a close election and that it's still going to be turn-out that matters. Maybe this will jolt a couple people to realize the stakes in this election and that it isn't a done deal...there's always room for more folks to make calls, knock on doors and help people get to the polls.

Bishop Willard is a very flawed candidate who still hasn't cracked 45% in not only national polling but in the critical swing states he'd need to make this race close. Many people I've talked to took away one thing from the debate: Willard wants to fire Big Bird. That's not quite the game changer he was hoping for.

There are three more debates ahead...and the expectations game now is reversed. The bar is high on the Bishop to replicate or better than performance next time. Also I expect Vice President Biden to school Pinocchio Munster next week...wipe that smirk off his face.

Right now I'd rather be in our position than theirs. One month to go...eye on the prize!!!

the rest of the debates go before freaking out.


If you think back to the '08 primaries you might remember that Mr. Obama likes to wait out his opponents. The rest of us are chomping at the bit expecting an immediate response, that is just not his style. He is a closer.

His retorts to Rmoney's comments will come closer to the end of the race. In politics, a week is a lifetime and spending to much political capital 5 weeks out can be a mistake.

It is all good. Rmoney can't win without Ohio. If he takes the lead in polls there and holds it for a while, then you can freak out.


Come on back down to Earth. It is to early to give yourself a heart attack over this stuff.

The only thing you have to fear is fear itself.

and their lies won't hold up much longer.

Nothing I can tell you. Good luck chilling out.