There has been some groaning among Democratic circles--and in some media organizations--about the fact that Senator Obama said numerous times during the debate that he agreed with John McCain about certain policy matters.

Yes, it's entirely possible to view that through the lens of Obama offering up an opportunity for McCain to claim supremacy in foreign policy issues.

I, by contrast, would claim that Obama's repeated statements of agreement with McCain were, even if unscripted, extremely effective at highlighting one of the chief contrast that the debate brought out:  that Barack Obama is ready to lead by finding common ground, while McCain was a grouchy old man who couldn't even acknowledge his opponent.

More below.

It's like I have written before: the main reason that this election is even close so far, despite the incredible unpopularity of the Bush-Cheney policies, is that John McCain is still viewed by much of the country as a true American patriot and a maverick who holds the best interests of this country at heart, despite a desire to continue the absolutely disastrous policies of the past eight years under Bush, rather than an out-of-touch creature of Washington who suck up to whomever it takes to obtain the presidency.

The traditional media has allowed this narrative to continue by refraining to give serious consideration to McCain's repeated flip-flops on the theocons, on tax policy, and Iraq.

But the pick of Sarah Palin--a failed mayor turned power-abusing governor, and the least-qualified VP nominee ever--confirms one thing: McCain has put his ambition ahead of the country.

Everyone,

In case you haven't seen the news: the home of Darcy Burner, a netroots hero running for Congress in WA-08, was destroyed in a fire this morning.

Well, I think most of us here think that Darcy should be in a different House: The House of Representatives.  And I think that the last thing Darcy needs to worry about is whether she'll have the money to compete down the stretch in one of the most competitive districts in the country.

Let's get Darcy's Q3 numbers off to a good start.  I've set up a special ActBlue page in response to this tragedy, and I've set the target at a relatively modest $5,000 across the entire netroots.  You know what to do.  And I know we had a huge end-of-quarter push netroots-wide yesterday, but extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

If you didn't give anything during the end-of-quarter push, maybe this will spur you.

It is definitely not my standard practice to do this.  And yet, in so many places, including a few voices that are still here, you will see some individuals who are so upset about Hillary Clinton's loss, and are so opposed to Barack Obama because of what they perceive as the sexism of his campaign, that they are going to vote for John McCain.

Yes, this guy.

More where that came from.

And another welcome to all those who may be generous enough to be following our Crashing the States project!

I have to say--being in Northern Virginia gets me really excited.  You can feel the change happening politically--it's in the air here.  It's like an epicenter of the entire movement, and you can feel the energy.  That, and the countryside is absolutely gorgeous.

As you may have read in teacherken's recent diary on the subject, the Crashing The States crew as at the biennial pig roast with Mark Warner at the Rappahanock Bend Farm.  Despite the brief period of inclement weather, it was a fantastic event.  Below the fold is a recap and the "official" Crashing the States photoessay!

Are you tired of frantically searching for the latest polls from Ohio and Florida every presidential election?

Are you tired of corrupt Republican secretaries of state having more power than millions of voters when it comes to deciding who is "elected" President?

Have you taken up residence in a solid red state and grown tired of your vote not really mattering?

Then this diary is for you, because we'll be talking about reforming the Electoral College.  Follow me below for more.

On Saturday I attended the Red/Blue summit in Irvine, CA, sponsored by DFA.  I had the opportunity to meet quite a few people, including the candidates running for the CA-48 open seat in Orange County vacated by Chris Cox' nomination to the SEC.

You'd never expect to meet a candidate that not only supports your exact policy positions, but states them eloquently and dynamically, with energy, enthusiasm and sincerity--and then talks to you personally for 20 minutes despite his busy schedule to hear your concerns and ideas.

But now I have met that candidate--and that candidate is Steve Young.  More below.

Schoolteachers thrown out of Bush rally for wearing "protect our civil liberties" t-shirts.  How very subversive!

This lets you know where this administration stands.  They don't want you to realize that your civil liberties are at stake--and anyone who realizes that their civil liberties are at stake will, in fact, be stripped of their civil liberties before you can point it out.