John McCain hates the middle class?

That’s what the Obama campaign would have you believe:

Sully’s ‘hubby’ says . . .

OK, so last night Obama accused McCain of saying that he would not meet with the president of Spain and McCain was heard to mutter what sounded like, “Of course not.” (Allah has video.) But Andrew Sullivan thought he heard “horses***” and then had to issue this hilarious correction:

I’ve removed the original post of a little time ago because after listening to the clip about two dozen times, what sounded like McCain saying “horse***” actually comes through as having a hard “c” at the front of it. My husband insists that McCain said “Course not.” I think now my hubby’s right, although it’s very muffled.(Emphasis added)

His use of “hubby” just struck me hilarious.

Of course Obama won the debate

I’m surprised that anyone could look at Friday night’s debate and declare John McCain the winner, but — for example — here is Michelle Malkin:

I’m giving it to McCain — and you know I’m a tough grader on him.
He was slow out of the gate — a broken record on earmarks and spending — but Obama failed to turn the bailout debacle against him. McCain hit his stride in the second half, schooling Obama on counterinsurgency, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia.

McCain was definitely stronger in the last 45 minutes than he was at the start. But this misses the point: What did Obama have to do to “win” the debate? He had to look and sound “presidential,” and I think he cleared that hurdle with ease. Michelle cites a few gaffes by Obama, but he didn’t say anything as stupidly tone-deaf as Mike Dukakis’s infamous answer to Bernie Shaw.

McCain looked and sounded like a tired 72-year-old man. He simply is not able to speak spontaneously about economic affairs in a convincing manner. Obama’s economic answers may be completely wrong, but they are delivered confidently. That makes a difference to the undecided voters out there and undecided voters are the coin of the realm at this point.

However, it was Friday night — high-school football night all over the country, and I doubt very much that very many undecided voters stayed home on a Friday night to watch the debate. What they will remember is the soundbites from the debate, and this one may get stuck in their heads: