Gambler Doubles Down on Anger...And Loses

During McCain's admittedly winning zinger last night ("I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.") I wondered about that 90% voting consistency with Dubya and why Obama didn't bring it up to refute the quip. No matter. We've seen time and time again Obama's dogged resistance to being suckered into a tit-for-tat campaign and instead focus on the issues. Last night Obama's plan conjured up shades of Ali's sneaky rope-a-dope strateg(er)y. It worked. The old man was fuming and bursting with condescension much of the ninety minutes he was on display.

McCain's reliance on negative attacks and personal smears has backfired to an exponential degree, with the poll numbers to prove it. So what does an old, admitted maverick gambler do? Like the typical degenerate slumping over the velvet table at 3 a.m., sipping on watered down seven-and-sevens, he doubles down on a losing hand---anger. Last night McCain came across meaner and angrier than ever before. There were times when some of us thought he was going to break out the Uncle Tom-speak to go along with his contemptuous jingoism and Biblical, misogynistic inclinations (his wife Cindy always walks five steps behind him, hands clasped firmly behind her back. She might as well wear a $500,000 burka.).

Last night's debate was an entertaining parade of reaction shots, guffaws, and strained, condescending sighs from the old, wounded dog. McCain's reactions were so intense, so frequent, and so irritating, they've been turned into a YouTube video. He was frantic, all over the place, and somewhere around half an hour into the debate, he altogether stopped making sense, mixing gibberish with talking points and frequent eye-rolling. By the time sixty minutes had elapsed, he was completely in La-La land, personally addressing Joe Plumber "If you're out there my friend..." and invoking Sarah Palin's expertise on autism---a point which struck me as quite odd, as Palin's son Trig is afflicted with Down's Syndrome, but that's for Jenny McCarthy to take up on Oprah.

Obama shut the door last night by promising to "work every single day, tirelessly, on your behalf." McCain finished by looking haggard, irritated, angry, and...old. He was clearly exhausted by the vitriol and needed his nap. The old gambler was finished. All he got was a coupon for a complimentary soft drink from the kind-hearted pit boss who was looking to end his shift and go home.