Recess Appointment

Well it's finally here. The gang talks about last minute campaign developments like Romney's show of strength/desperation move in Pennsylvania, run down the reasons liberals should still be nervous and make some predictions. And Kathryn sneezes a lot.

Remember when we didn't provide an episode a couple weeks back? We made up for it this week with a shortened podcast recorded while the lights flickered moments before Hurricane Sandy made landfall where the panel discusses the possible political fallout from the storm. Thankfully all of us are OK and suffered no serious damage, but recording was a chore with spotty internet (we lost audio feeds multiple times...but I've edited all of that out).

Joe, Nick, and Allison review the town hall debate and preview the foreign policy debate. Joe thinks Libya is no longer an issue for the Romney campaign to exploit and Nick bemoans China bashing.

Nick and Allison join Joe to discuss the first presidential debate, Jim Lehrer's swan song, and poor, battered Big Bird. Jobs numbers continued their positive trend sparking hysterical conservatives to allege corruption. And we all look forward to Grandpa Joe Biden take on Ayn Rand acolyte Paul Ryan.

Kathryn finally rejoins Joe, Nick and Allison just in time to preview the first presidential debate. The gang discusses the new format for the debate, the strategies of both Romney and Obama and offers both some last-minute advice straight out of West Wing. And way too much time is spent remembering 1989’s Listen to Me.

The Romney campaign spent last week recasting this election as a conflict between "Pancho and Lefty" -- Barack Obama the "Lefty" on one side and Mitt Romney the "antiquated and racist stereotype of a Latino" on the other. Joe does not take kindly to that. Joe, Allison, and Nick also examine recent revelations that Mitt Romney's campaign may be cash flow poor, the long-term problems for the GOP with the youth vote, Romney's temper and the strain of campaigning and wonders if modern campaigning is a young person's game. The panel also discusses the recent Univision forum where Mitt Romney displayed his weakness with young voters and exploded the idea that he is an even-tempered manager. But mostly..."brown face?" Seriously?

Joe, Allison and Nick discuss Mitt Romney's unfortunate videotaped explanation that half the country can't figure out how to take responsibility for their lives. This comes on the heels of a botched response to the Embassy attacks and revelations that the campaign is beginning to point fingers internally. And yet no one is getting fired? Ironically Mitt Romney apparently doesn't like firing people. We also preview QE3 where Ben Bernanke finally decides to suit up and help the economy.