Jeff, what's the word with your site?

 Last night's debate was fairly collegial and was essentially a draw.  Obama is playing keep away these days and will not engage in anything unless it's going to deliver the knockout punch to Clinton.  Clinton, at least during the exchange on the question about Farrakhan appears ready to concede. She injected herself into that question in a peculiar way by rehashing how she was attacked by republicans in New York for allegedly supporting Palestine.  There were a number of ways she could have entered that dialogue with the intent of harming Obama, but she did not and I think this represents a new tone in their debates. 

They both actually seemed tired of these debates and it is becoming more evident that this process is wearing on both of them.  Afterwards the pundits discussed the moderators' inability to elicit any new answers from either candidates, but why would either Obama or Clinton say something substantial?  It's been incredibly frustrating paying close attention to these events because they require too much inference, and forming one's assumptions about each person's intended meanings. 

 One last point for now, is it me, or has health-care become a democratic proxy for the economy?  It's amazing actually how much time Clinton and Obama spend referring to their health-care proposals, when in effect neither proposal can be launched if the economy is not somehow revived.  Think about it this way, our current health care system all but means you need a job in order to have health coverage.  If somewhere between 10 - 17,000 people a month are losing their jobs, fewer people are obviously going to have health coverage and the economy is not going to be able to afford to pay for them to be covered.  Regardless of how much money we shift from spending on Iraq or how quickly we bring the troops back, neither plan will work under our current economic conditions. 

It's borderline blasphemous how they continue referring to more jobs without giving any insight into how or where these jobs will come from.  If there was ever a time to talk about the economy and innovative solutions, this stint through Ohio and Texas represented two of the best opportunities, and they both are expiring. 

Does anyone think that either of the three remaining candidates can oversee a economic renaissance?

F