A few notes about the debate last night:

1) McCain needed a win, and he didn’t get it. Most  post-debate polls pointed to a clear Obama win, and on CNN — still using those absurd blue and red circular scorecards — even the Republican strategists handed it to Obama.

2) McCain still hates earmarks. Tagged at about $18 billion of the nearly $3 trillion total federal budget, they are — to risk understatement — inconsequential. Sure, $18 billion is a lot, but at a time when the government just anted up $700 billion in bailout money to maybe halt the country’s economic meltdown, the federal deficit has doubled to $10 trillion in the last eight years, and the war in Iraq alone is eating up $10 billion a month - earmarks barely even register. That, of course, didn’t stop McCain from attacking Obama twice for voting for a $3 million overhead projector for a Chicago planetarium. Wow.

3) McCain: “I’ll get Osama Bin Laden, my friends. I know how to get him. I know how to do it.” Well, I’m sure that’s news to George Bush. And Bin Laden. One wonders why he hasn’t suspended his campaign to do that yet.

4) My favorite part of the debate: Shortly after criticizing Obama for announcing that he’d be willing to launch unilateral attacks into Pakistan if Pakistan refuses to take out al-Qaeda camps or Bin Laden (advising that America needs to carry a big stick and walk softly), Obama points out that McCain was the one who — among other notable gaffes — sang ‘Bomb Iran’. Watch how quickly McCain’s body language changes — hilaaaarious (c) Dave Chappelle/Nick Cannon.

Afterward, McCain tried to explain himself by pointing out that it was a joke shared with an old veteran buddy of his. Wrong wrong wrong, wrong wrong again (I know…) — check out the video below:

5) Oh, and the New York Times released a remarkably blunt editorial taking the McCain-Palin campaign to ask for descending “into the dark territory of race-baiting and xenophobia.” All in all, not the best time to be a McCain supporter.

This piece was originally posted on Matt’s blog.