20 Days Out: Ten words that have lost meaning and debate preview
Don’t forget that, like every Wednesday, Birmingham Weekly columnist Kyle Whitmire will be on WBHM (90.3 FM) at 4:30 pm.\
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Ten words that have lost meaning during the course of this election (due to overuse, misuse, or other mangled usage from the press or campaigns in the spin cycle):\
1)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 Vet (as in “vetting,” not “veteran”)
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2)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 Taking the gloves off
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3)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 Experience
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4)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 Honorable
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5)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 ACORN
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6)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 Bradley effect
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7)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 POW
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8)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 Debate moderator
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9)\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0\’a0 Super Tuesday
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10)\’a0\’a0 Conservatism
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The final presidential candidate debate between John “Change” McCain and Barack “Change” Obama is at 8 pm tonight, and you can find it on the channels you always find it. If you’re interested in a more interactive experience, head to Matthews Bar & Grill, Bottletree, Fox & Hound, or any number of other venues and watch the debate there. And if you’re a Democrat, don’t keep your mouth shut but remember this state is tilted 27 points towards McCain, more than almost any other state (Utah is up there), so you might be outnumbered. But that’s sort of the fun part, anyway…\
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What does McCain have to do tonight? I have no clue what he can do. Conservative commentators are jumping ship (here is a round-up of who has walked the plank from Jerry Weissman, this is funny: Andrew Sullivan calls the right’s reaction a “circular firing squad“) faster than the experienced McCain can pick Sarah Palin. A poll yesterday showed a 14-point lead for Obama (another one today has McCain under 40%). And even Colin Powell might endorse Obama soon. And Obama’s totally ready for any Ayers-related attacks. But here’s what folks are saying:\
CNN: McCain must talk economics
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The Corner @ National Review Online: McCain should “throw Obama off his game” by saying “So what if I’m erotic in a crisis” (???)
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HuffPo: Drop Sarah Palin
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ALModerate has a round-up as well.\
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And what does Obama have to do? Just continue to be as cool as he always is (winning the steady hand and judgment argument). Here’s a beautiful demonstration of how Obama is cool (hattip to Birmingham Blues): A woman points out a spider on Obama’s shirt, and he calmly brushes it away while still talking (video below).\
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In other national news, it’s kind of chilling to me to get confirmation that the White House explicitly endorsed torture.\
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And John Leo at HuffPo scathingly attacks those (like myself) who have gone overboard on the “hate speech” at McCain/Palin rallies in this piece, “The Hate Rally That Wasn’t“.\
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UPDATE: McCain, via Ezra Klein, releases tape of debate practice! Video below (hat tip to TPM)!\
