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Probably Not Good
Talking Points Memo — Amy Sullivan in Time ... In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg's focus group were "audibly snickering" at John McCain's grimaces, eye-bulging, and repeated references to "Joe the Plumber." ...

Final Debate: McCain's Facial Expressions the Distraction of the Night (Video)
Tennessee Guerilla Women — ... Other than his ridiculous conspiracy theory suggestion that Obama belongs to some secret cell of (socialist) terrorists, I found viewing McCain on the split screen to be exceedingly annoying. And funny. Throughout the night, I was laughing out loud (and I was not alone!) at the parade of McCain's comical facial expressions. From grimaces to bulging eyes, raised eyebrows, smirks, disdain, and outright laughing while Obama talked, McCain's facial expressions were the highlight of the night. And not in a presidential way. He also kept looking at the moderator with a rude ...

Hillary: Obama '3 for 3' in Debates
Taylor Marsh — BY TAYLOR MARSH This is not a good sign for John McCain. The outcome from undecided voters last night has conservatives scratching their heads. Senator Hillary Clinton weighed in last night as well on CNN with Wolf Blitzer. It wasn’t even close: ...

Early Morning Swim: Obama Gets The 4-0 Sweep Edition
Firedoglake — Here's a bit of trivia: going to back to '04, the Democratic candidate has beaten the Republican candidate 7 straight times in presidential debates. That, my friends, is a serious ass-kicking. Biggest blowout yet: CBS 53-22, CNN 58-31, MediaCurves 60-30, Frank Luntz's focus group. Denver focus group of undecideds caught laughing at McSame.  But the pundits loved him. And at The Corner, they're just confused.  HuffPo's got debate highlights. Sullivan's got ...

They were laughing at him, not with him
Political Animal — THEY WERE LAUGHING AT HIM, NOT WITH HIM.... Time's Amy Sullivan has a fascinating report on a focus group in Denver last night, hosted by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg, which offers a helpful glimpse at how some voters perceived the final presidential debate. In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg's focus group were "audibly snickering" at John McCain's grimaces, ...

Twitched, Bothered And McCranky
Firedoglake — ...  that McCain's debate performance looked like an exercise in anger management was spot on.  It was a huge turn-off to watch McCain taking his smirky, petulant, immature, angry id on a public parade. ...

It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy
If I Ran the Zoo — A focus group run by Stan Greenberg, reported by Amy Sullivan: In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg's focus group were "audibly snickering" at John McCain's grimaces, eye-bulging, and repeated references to "Joe the Plumber." The group of 50 uncommitted voters should have at least been receptive to McCain -- Republicans and Independents outnumbered ...

Final Debate, Final Analysis
Comments from Left Field — ... Nor did he do well among most focus groups, and in the case of at least one focus group, the audience actually started laughing at McCain, not with him. ...

The "Reverse Bradley Effect"
culturekitchen - fresh dissent served daily — ... the daily Gallup polls and the scores of the Conservative Intelligentsia endorsing Obama. That conservatives, more so than republicans, seemed to be scared shitless of the prospect of having not only 4 more years of neo-con economics but four more years of neoconism with the dangerous error that is Sarah Palin as President. Of course, I am not saying Patrick will vote for Obama, but weirder shit has happened during this election campaign. I mean, republicans were laughing at McCain not with McCain during one of the "undecideds" polls. You ...

Nix the Bread; Just Give Us Circuses
Shakesville — In the middle of this piece by Amy Sullivan about the debate, comes this line: "Boring" and "zzzzz" were popular reviews of Obama's performance from blogosphere pundits, but apparently the people have had enough excitement watching the market plummet and are in the mood for some mellowness.It wasn't just in the blogosphere. As the results of their polling rolled in at CNN, various members of the largest pundit panel on the planet expressed shock that American voters felt Obama had so thoroughly trounced McCain with such a low-key ...

Bad Signs
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — Amy Sullivan captures the reaction of an undecided voters' focus group: In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg's focus group were "audibly snickering" at John McCain's grimaces, eye-bulging, and repeated references to "Joe the Plumber." ...

Arrrr! Hey, you black kid! Off my lawn!!!!
WTF Is It Now?!? — Angry old man, stuck like a broken record, becomes laughingstock. Amy Sullivan in Time: In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who ...

links for 2008-10-17
Oliver Willis — ... Undecideds Laughing At, Not With, McCain