VoxOp

THE FINAL DEBATE
"Mr. McCain knew that this was his last best chance to do something dramatic to shake up a race that is threatening to turn into a rout and he came out swinging, pummeling away at Mr. Obama for all he was worth. . .Mr. McCain managed to land some good jabs on his rival. He pointed out that he had broken his promise to take public financing for his campaign (and thus limit campaign spending). He noted that Mr. Obama's solution to every problem is to spend more money. He attacked Mr. Obama for (unfairly) pretending that there is no difference between him and the present incumbent. . .

"But Mr. McCain also made two big mistakes. Bringing up Mr. Obama's association with Bill Ayers, a former terrorist, made him look petty on a day on which the Dow Jones had lost 8 percent of its value and people have much bleaker issues on their minds. The second and more serious lay in his body language. Mr. McCain let his contempt for the younger man shine through, harrumphing, grimacing, smirking, and goggling his eyes whenever Mr. Obama got a chance to speak. The whole performance was reminiscent of Al Gore's sighing in his debate with George Bush in 2000, which many people think contributed to his defeat."
THE ECONOMIST
www.economist.com

"The biggest impact of the three presidential debates for Obama was not anything said or not said. It was impressionistic: Obama simply did not appear to be the scary "other" that McCain needs him to be. . .

"What McCain really needed is what he still needs: for Obama to make some huge gaffe, something that makes Obama look like the riskier choice between the two. . . The race is not over. It would be wrong to write McCain off. After all, there is still almost three weeks to go. And in politics, anything can happen."
ROGER SIMON
www.politico.com

PATRICK'S BUDGET CUTS
"In fairness to Governor Deval Patrick, the profound fiscal problems he tried to address with a round of proposed budget cuts are not originally of his making. Massachusetts has been living beyond its means for years, giving out union contracts with unsustainable healthcare and pension costs built into them, diving into revenue-eating nightmares like the Big Dig and universal healthcare, and driving us deep into debt by borrowing too heavily. Patrick didn't build that house of cards, and he has tried - unsuccessfully - in the first half of his term to provide more revenue sources. . .

"However, his back-patting performance [Wednesday] shouldn't be swallowed whole. His carefully parsed suggestion that this round of cuts should do the trick is ludicrous. . . In his litany of cost-saving actions, he rattled off a list of some of Beacon Hill's most sacred cows - pensions, healthcare for state workers, the Mass. Pike - without any indication of how the establishment's deeply entrenched resistance to serious reforms will be overcome."
JON KELLER
Keller@Large Blog

"A year ago, House Speaker Sal DiMasi was humiliating Governor Deval Patrick like he was the Rays and Patrick was the Sox. We were fully prepared to watch the Legislature run roughshod over Patrick until 2010, or he was nominated to a position in a Barack Obama administration, whichever came first.

But now? The governor must be eating his Wheaties, because he is the strongest guy on Beacon Hill. In his latest power play, Patrick has kept his plans to cut services and staff quiet. . .

"Time will tell if he can carry the fight, but Patrick is showing real leadership."
AMY DERJUE
www.bostonmagazine.com