Liveblogging - First Presidential Debate

9:01 - Debate's about to get started. I've got the Mets game on the other window of this laptop, seven Coronas, and am thinking of calling for Thai food. Oh man, here comes Jim Lehrer. He just said McCain's name, so he's probably showed up. Candidates make their way to the stage. Here comes the handshake.

9:02 - Girlmate confesses she's more excited for the VP debates, and I'm inclined to agree.

9:04 - The format was slated to be about foreign affairs. But Lehrer's first question is about our economy, cause basically our economy affects the whole world, and recently it's gone to shit. Barack answers first to say, "Every one's been talking about Wall Street, but I want to talk about Main Street." McCain knows both streets, of course, as he owns a house on each.

9:06 - McCain responds by giving a shout out to an ailing Teddy Kennedy. Also cites this Main Street.

9:11 - Barry mentions "Main Street" again.

9:13 - McCain also mentions Main Street again. But neither candidate will take Lehrer's bait to fight one another.

9:16 - McCain calls out Obama on his penchant for earmarks and pork-barrel spending. He shows Lehrer a pen that he will use to veto earmarks. He promises that he will publish the names of these wasteful pols, and make them famous. And if you're wondering where you've heard this stump before, it was the Republican convention and every speech McCain's given since.

9:18 - Obama agrees that earmarks are bad, but corporate tax cuts are worse. He backs this up with, presumably elitist, math.

9:22 - McCain's first use of the phrase "my friends."

9:23 - Obama says that 95% of Americans will get a tax break in his administration. So apparently he's a Republican now. The candidates switch podiums.

9:25 - First sight of McCain's smug, angry grin.

9:28 - Obama wants us to be independent on foreign oil in 10 years. Because in ten years time, Iraq and Venezuela will no longer be foreign lands. (USA!)

9:30 - McCain says for the 28th time that we need to cut spending. Says Barack is so far to the left that it's hard to reach across the aisle. Burn.

9:32 - David Wright makes a great catch on a hard hit line drive down the 3rd base line. Oh wait....

9:34 - Obama says, I'm only so liberal cause Bush is so crazy(!).

9:35 - McCain proposes a spending freeze on everything but defense, entitlement and veterans. Nice try, McCain, but you should read your history books. Veterans will be the first to get their funding cut. Always.

9:36 - Thai food arrives.

9:38 - John McCain has spent his entire career fighting spending. How did I not put a pool together on times "spending" was used. Just called himself a maverick.

9:40 - Lehrer head fakes a question to McCain about Vietnam that is actually about Iraq. McCain says we 'badly mishandled' the war, which I believe means we handled it well, cause that's a double negative.

9:42 - Barry mentions, in case you didn't know, that he has always been against the war in Iraq.

9:48 - McCain implies Obama was against troop funding. Obama illuminates the details of McCain's talking point, and makes it clear that they are both for troop funding, and that the time-table was the issue.

9:50 - Issue has shifted to Afghanistan. Barack is getting all smart with his fancy insight and elitist facts.

9:52 - McCain responds regretting the mistake made by leaving the Afghan freedom fighters alone after helping them drive out the Russians, proving once and for all that he's totally read "Charlie Wilson's War" and at the very least seen the movie.

9:54 - McCain says Barack shouldn't say publicly that he wants to bomb Pakistan. He definitely doesn't say we shouldn't. But he repeats now that we shouldn't 'say' it.

9:56 - Obama says McCain sings songs about 'Bombing Iran,' a great reference to McCain changing the lyrics to the Beach Boys song "Barbara Ann" to "Bomb Iran." Burn.

9:58 - McCain mentions a bracelet a mother in New Hampshire gave him.

10:00 - Obama: "I've got a bracelet too."

10:02 - McCain's face is getting super angry. Way angrier than before. May have busted a blood vessel. Probably has new face cancer.

10:04 - McCain suggests creating "League of Democracies." Super Friends soon to be contacted. Possibly the Harlem Globetrotters too.

10:10 - Obama mentions how McCain won't meet with the President of Spain.

10:12 - McCain: "I'm not gonna set the White House visitors schedule before I'm president. I don't even have a seal yet." BURN!

10:20 - The two candidates bicker over Russia and Georgia, as Americans burn Lehman shares to heat their homes. NOBODY CARES!

10:26 - 9/11 question! 9/11 question! Candidates agree. 9/11 was bad, and shouldn't happen again.

10:32 - Apparently we haven't caught Osama bin Laden yet, and Obama (my God those names are similar) won't shut up about it.

10:34 - McCain just compared Obama to Bush. Yeah, you just read that.

10:36 - In literally the last minute of the debate, John McCain mentions how he was a prisoner of war. (John McCain was in Vietnam? Is that true? That'll have to be Googled.) If you had 10:36 in your "John McCain would mention his time as a P.O.W." pool, then you're the big winner!

And, if you wanted to hear anything of substance tonight, well then, sorry.