Polls have liberal bloggers cheering that Barack Obama won the first presidential debate on Friday, while others debate whether Obama distorted former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's stance on Iran.

Obama won in the eyes of TV viewers, Daily Kos's DemFromCT proclaims, noting that a CBS poll gave Obama a 15 percentage point advantage. Last night's foreign policy focus should have favored John McCain, DemfromCT argues, which makes the blogger even more pleased with the poll results. A CNN survey gave Obama a similar edge, Andrew Sullivan notes at The Daily Dish, while FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver decides Obama won with voters because he came across as more in touch with their needs and problems.

But neither candidate scored a knockout punch, Townhall.com's Carol Platt Liebau asserts on the right. Hot Air's Ed Morrissey agrees, saying it's hard to tell whether any moments of the debate will resonate with voters in the long run.

When Obama asserted that Kissinger, a McCain adviser, advocated meeting with Iran without preconditions, he failed to mention that Kissinger does not support such meetings to happen at the presidential level, Marc Ambinder points out. Obama and McCain debated Kissinger's stance, but according to The Huffington Post's Robert Naiman, Obama was right, and foreign policy experts including Kissinger do not share McCain's support for preconditions. Kissinger himself, The Next Right's Warner Todd Huston notes, says Obama was wrong about his stance on Iran.

And the Wall Street bailout plan still being negotiated in Congress will do nothing to address the worldwide impact of the U.S. financial crisis, William Kristol argues in a post at The Weekly Standard. If Congress wants to address the ripple effects of the collapse, it needs to beef up the FDIC's authority and grant the Treasury unlimited authority to protect money market funds, Kristol says.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Improving the Inevitable Bailout - Dan Spencer, RedState
Palin Morphing into Cheney - Kagro X, Daily Kos
Palin Visits Philly Bar - Jeralyn, TalkLeft
Plouffe on Town Halls - Byron York, The Corner
Having Slept on It - Josh Marshall, TalkingPointsMemo
Americans Met Angry McCain - Joe Sudbay, AMERICAblog
Polls Say Obama Won - Allahpundit, Hot Air
Debate Reactions - Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish
Did McCain's Attacks Work? - Isaac Chotiner, The Plank
Americans Have Lives - Jim Geraghty, The Campaign Spot
Kissinger Parses Kissinger - Marc Ambinder

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Power Shifts from N.Y. to D.C. - Washington Post
Consensus on Rescue Plan Said to Be Near - NY Times
Obama Wins Debate, Poll Says - CNN
Obama, McCain Spar on War, Fiscal Crisis - Wall Street Journal

John McCain's decision to attend tonight's presidential debate has bloggers debating whether he lost a stare-down with Barack Obama, while a video that allegedly shows Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) in a 1984 beauty pageant draws groans.

McCain blinked when he decided to attend tonight's debate, MyDD's Todd Beeton declares. McCain lost face when he announced he would attend, Beeton says, as the Arizona Republican had previously called for the debate to be postponed while negotiators work on a Wall Street bailout deal. But McCain simply acted in a way that voters would want a president to act, Paul Mirengoff asserts at Power Line. McCain put politics to a halt initially and decided to attend the debate only after the negotiating process allowed it, Mirengoff says.

A video claiming to show Palin wearing a bathing suit in a 1984 beauty pageant is no joke, AMERICAblog's John Aravosis claims, while The Huffington Post reports that an Alaskan has uploaded it to YouTube claiming it is 100 percent accurate. (Grainy footage, however, makes it hard to tell.) A video like this was bound to surface eventually, Townhall.com's Matt Lewis writes, saying he's grateful no similar video exists of McCain.

House Republicans, meanwhile, have put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a tough spot by continuing to push their own alternatives to Democrats' Wall Street bailout proposals, The Weekly Standard's Mary Katharine Ham proclaims. Pelosi could pass her party's version without broad bipartisan support, but it would cost Democrats at the polls, Ham asserts. But a leading GOP plan--to insure failing companies instead of buying them--won't work according to The Corner's Rich Lowry, who argues that the plan won't fix the bad mortgage debt clogging the U.S. financial system.

FROM THE BLOGS:
There Was No Deal - Matt Lewis, Townhall.com
Mike Pence - Matthew Yglesias
When Sarah Met Katie - Peter Robinson, The Corner
Democratic Registration - Greg Sargent, TPM Election Central
The Debate - Academic Elephant, RedState
New Day, New Deal? - Mary Katharine Ham, The Weekly Standard
Blinky McBlinkerson - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Miss Alaska Video - Ann Althouse
Democratic Solution Is Best - Ian Welsh, Firedoglake
Palin and Kissinger - BarbinMD, Daily Kos

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Congress Pushes to End Impasse on Bailout - NY Times
Democrats Say Bailout Talks 'Back on Track' - Washington Post
Senate to Come Back Next Week - The Hill
McCain Heads to Debate without Bailout Resolution - Detroit Free Press

John McCain and the Republicans are running out of options today, conservatives lament, while others in the base have begun to sour on his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R). Now that McCain has decided to go forward with tonight

Imploding talks over the economic bailout have bloggers engaged in finger-pointing. John McCain's "stunt" of suspending his campaigning and returning to Washington blew up the bailout deal, according to liberal bloggers. But according to conservative bloggers, Democratic Congressional leaders have been too eager to play the political blame game. The $700 billion bailout proposal itself, meanwhile, is still being treated with skepticism by bloggers on both sides.

McCain has undermined the deal by parachuting in on complicated talks and refusing to take a strong stance on the deal, writes Political Animal's Hilzoy, who accuses McCain of putting his political interests first. McCain has pulled off a political "stunt" by torpedoing the deal, and he's now seeking to benefit politically by bringing recalcitrant House Republicans into the mix, writes Todd Beeton at MyDD.

Democrats, who know the bailout is necessary but unpopular with many Americans, are playing political games by blaming Republicans for the deal's collapse, writes RedState's blackhedd. The Democrats, who are in the majority, could move the deal forward if they wanted to, the blogger notes. Democrats are making it tougher for Republicans to go along trying to use it to funnel money toward political action groups such as ACORN and the National Council of La Raza, writes Ed Morrissey at Hot Air.

The conservative anger against the bill is real, as evidenced by the strong reaction to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's (R) attack on corporations, writes Mark Daniels at The Moderate Voice. Barack Obama needs to be more of a leader and back a bailout plan that would do more for American citizens and less for Wall Street, writes Arianna Huffington. Both kos and The Corner's Nick Schulz write that lawmakers haven't done enough to explain why a $700 billion package is needed to pay for Wall Street's and borrowers' mistakes. But, according to economist Megan McArdle, the risk of not passing a bailout is that the economy will collapse and 40 million Americans will end up out of work.

FROM THE BLOGS:
McCain's 'Real Leadership' - Hilzoy, Political Animal
Strange Days: McCain and Conservatives - J. Marshall, TPM
'Rescue Plan' For McCain - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Congressional Dems' 'Leadership' - blackhedd, RedState
The Democratic ACORN Bailout - E. Morrissey, Hot Air
Meltdowns - John Podhoretz, Contentions
Conservative Anger is Real - Mark Daniels, The Moderate Voice
Obama Needs to Lead - Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post
Zero Effort to Educate - kos, Daily Kos
Why Aren't They Making Payments? - Nick Schulz, The Corner
Willing to Gamble to Stop It - Megan McArdle

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Talks Implode During Day of Chaos - New York Times
Debate Still in Limbo as Dems Blame McCain - Wash. Post
McCain Leaps Into a Thicket - New York Times
Analysis: House GOP Holds All the Cards - The Hill

Though major news outlets have reported a tentative agreement on a Wall Street bailout plan, the deal still faces opposition and may not be sealed just yet, bloggers suggest. Barack Obama, meanwhile, earns praise after a report suggesting his campaign plans to go ahead with tomorrow's presidential debate with or without John McCain.

Despite reports that key lawmakers have reached an agreement, both House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are unanimous in saying there is no deal yet, The Weekly Standard

John McCain's suspension of his campaign may have been for naught as a deal nears, liberal bloggers say today, while conservatives counter that McCain was simply responding from a call to duty from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The $25 billion in assistance headed to Detroit automakers has been overlooked because of the recent news, other bloggers argue.

McCain

President Bush's speech urging Americans to get on board with the $700 billion economic bailout plan has yet to fully persuade a key constituency, conservative bloggers. John McCain's request for a debate delay is mocked by David Letterman, liberal bloggers eagerly note. But McCain's gamble could pay off for him politically, according to his blogging backers.

Bush delivered his prime-time address well, but the substance doesn't mesh with the reality that the markets are working and investors are figuring out a way to properly value those rotten mortgage-backed securities, writes RedState's Pejman Yousefzadeh. Bush made the "socialist case for government intervention" and failed to place blame with those who deserved it, greedy lenders, writes Townhall's Amanda Carpenter. But if conservatives are really willing to forgo the bailout, they need to be forthright about the serious economic pain that would ensue without it, writes The Corner's Rich Lowry.

Letterman, miffed at McCain's decision Wednesday to cancel his "Late Show" appearance, looked like his head was ready to explode when he saw McCain sat for an interview with Katie Couric, writes The Campaign Silo's Jane Hamsher. Letterman slammed McCain's decision to suspend his campaign, asking whether the Republican was doing it because his "poll numbers are sliding," notes MyDD's Todd Beeton. Though McCain said he wants to focus on the economy, he has rarely shown interest in that topic as a senator, writes TalkingPointsMemo's Josh Marshall, who says McCain's guilty of the biggest "dog ate my homework" excuse in history.

But McCain's attempt to cancel the debate could work in his favor now that President Bush convinced Barack Obama to follow McCain to Washington, writes Lowry. While McCain displays leadership by emphasizing the most pressing issue, Obama looks like "wanna-be" who wants to "smile pretty" during the debate, writes Mike Gallagher at Townhall.

FROM THE BLOGS:
I'm Fed Up - Amanda Carpenter, Townhall.com
I'm Not Sold - Pejman Yousefzadeh, RedState
Should Be Willing to Take Pain - Rich Lowry, The Corner
McCain Blows of Letterman - J. Hamsher, The Campaign Silo
Biggest 'Dog Ate My Homework' in History - Josh Marshall, TPM
Worst Self-Inflicted Campaign Move Ever? - James Fallows
Debate Prep for Palin - kos, Daily Kos
McCain to Washington - Rich Lowry, The Corner
McCain, Leader; Obama, Wanna-Be - Mike Gallagher, Townhall.com
McCain 'Suspends' His Campaign - Paul Mirengoff, Power Line

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Bush Calls Bailout Vital to Economy - Washington Post
Obama and McCain Will Join Bailout Talks - Los Angeles Times
Selfless or Reckless? McCain Gambles on Voters' Verdict - Wash. Post
Rangel Tries to Stay Steady Under Ethics Fire - The Hill

John McCain stirs broad debate by suspending his presidential campaign and calling for a delay of Friday's presidential debate, drawing mixed reviews. Barack Obama, meanwhile, earns plaudits for opposing McCain's call.

McCain's suspension of his campaign and call to delay the debate is nothing more than a desperate political stunt, kos writes at Daily Kos. McCain has long said that, despite economic turmoil, the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong, and kos thinks McCain is finally reversing that stance. The move doesn't make sense in the long term, Mark Levin writes at The Corner, as any bailout deal McCain could hammer out likely will disappoint conservatives, according to Levin.

Obama did well to say that the American people need to hear from him and McCain, as one of them will be charged with fixing the economy very soon, MyDD's Todd Beeton argues, noting that the debate will likely happen as planned. By denying McCain's call, Obama refused to let the Arizona Republican set the agenda for the nation's financial crisis, avoiding a trap, Greg Sargent declares at TPM Election Central.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), meanwhile, has offended conservatives by telling an audience of Jewish Democrats they should beware of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) because "anybody toting guns and stripping moose don

John McCain