Uploaded on Tuesday night, “So You Think You Can Be President — Debate Remix,” only has about a thousand views so far, but it is a masterfully edited commentary on the three presidential debates. The video, remixed by Jonathan McIntosh, deserves a wider airing.

The accompanying promotional text tweaks the candidates for staking out similar positions on energy policy, while also knocking the U.S. voting system in general:

In this week’s episode only two weeks before the election, Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain have their feet held to the fire over shockingly similar positions on both energy… Who will be this season’s champion and take home the grand prize? You’ll have to watch and decide that for yourself, then participate by casting your vote* for your favorite performer on Nov. 4th!

*Some restrictions may apply. In certain areas these include, but are not limited to, faulty electronic voting systems, racist voter laws and/or voter roll purges. See your local polling place for details.

It’s a bit long, at nine minutes, but the surreal mood builds over time:

PRODUCTION NOTES: By splicing the political cant of modern debates with the hyperbolic feedback of celebrity judges, this mashup imagines a world where politicians are called out on their double-talk in real time.

With a tone that bordered on mocking, McCain disparaged Sen. Barack Obama’s opposition to the agreement. From the transcript:

But let me give you another example of a free trade agreement that Sen. Obama opposes. Right now, because of previous agreements, some made by President Clinton, the goods and products that we send to Colombia , which is our largest agricultural importer of our products, is — there’s a billion dollars that we — our businesses have paid so far in order to get our goods in there.

Because of previous agreements, their goods and products come into our country for free.  So Sen. Obama, who has never traveled south of our border, opposes the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The same country that’s helping us try to stop the flow of drugs into our country that’s killing young Americans.

And also the country that just freed three Americans that will help us create jobs in America because they will be a market for our goods and products without having to pay — without us having to pay the billions of dollars — the billion dollars and more that we’ve already paid.

Free trade with Colombia is something that’s a no-brainer. But maybe you ought to travel down there and visit them and maybe you could understand it a lot better.

Obama cited the Colombian government’s spotty human rights record and its blind eye toward  the assassination of labor leaders as reasons for his opposition.

Human Rights Watch issued a 142-page report today on Colombia’s efforts to rein in paramilitary groups. It concluded that the trade agreement has been an effective carrot for encouraging Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to crack down on the paramilitary “mafias” that engage in drug trafficking and murder opponents, including trade unionists.

A proposal that President Uribe floated in 2007 to allow politicians who collaborated with paramilitaries to avoid prison altogether would have had a devastating impact on the investigations. Fortunately, President Uribe tabled this proposal after it became evident that it would become an obstacle to the ratification of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. It is unclear what would happen if the pressure related to ratification of the trade deal were dropped.

The human rights organization appears to side with Obama on whether the agreement should be ratified in the near future, recommending that the U.S. Congress “[c]ontinue to delay ratification of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement until Colombia shows concrete and sustained results in reducing impunity for trade unionist killings and dismantling the paramilitary mafias responsible for many of the killings. This means that Colombia must show meaningful results in investigating and holding accountable not only paramilitary leaders but also their many accomplices.”

Clearly, McCain’s comments last night demonstrated a willingness to overlook the potential human cost of his ideological pursuit of unrestricted trade.

The most exciting moment for me was watching Triumph the Insult Comic Dog scare the bajeezus out of a Newsweek reporter in the media filing center.

The real star of the evening: Joe the Plumber. McCain found an exploitable middle-class archetype with which to hammer Sen. Barack Obama, and he ran with it.

And ironically, it was McCain who made the first reference — aside from Bob Schieffer’s passing mention in his introduction — to the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging more than 700 points Wednesday, during the closing remarks.

But enough of that. I have pictures from the Spin Room!

Enjoy:

Richardson, who said he has now campaigned in 15 states for Obama, sounded plenty confident when handicapping the debate. “This is the debate where Obama clinches the deal with the American people,” he predicted. Richardson said he will be stumping for the Democratic ticket next week in New Mexico and Colorado.

Gov. Bill Richardson, shown here in Colorado, has been stumping for Obama at grass-roots events in more than a dozen states. (Credit: Obama Flickr.)

We spoke just before the debate began on Wednesday night, in a carnival tent at Hofstra University that was bursting with politicos, reporters and free swag from Anheuser-Busch, which is sponsoring the debate.  Richardson also chatted with Rep. Rahm Emanuel and CNN’s Ed Henry, swaping debate analysis.

The one-time presidential candidate joins a large chorus of “Obama Spinners” — that’s what the campaign literally calls them! — who will talk up Obama’s performance, no matter what, when the final debate ends.  Organizers cordoned off a large swath of the Hofstra gym for spinners from both campaigns.

Sen. John McCain has disavowed “low road” political attacks, but many critics argue that his reliance on Bill Ayers and misleading advertising has left him mudslinging while claiming he opposes mudslinging.

One politico just sent me a clip of a “debate” from the old Batman television show. In it, the caped crusader faces off against a villain who also swore off mudslinging — while playing guilt by association, anyway.

The text accompanying the YouTube video says the villain, Penguin, must be a Republican.

That is just not fair to all Republicans, of course, but some of the Penguin’s arguments are reminiscent of the McCain campaign’s latest salvos.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton issued a memo whose subject was John McCain’s plan to “whip” “That One’s” “you-know-what.”

The memo’s gist is that Obama will counter-punch McCain’s attacks by condemning the GOP presidential nominee’s failure to outline positive plans for the economy:

Even though Sen. McCain has said he doesn’t “give a damn” about Bill Ayers, his campaign has admitted that if he talks about the economy, he’ll lose…  On the big issues, this debate is one last chance for John McCain to do what he has failed to do throughout this entire campaign:  explain to the American people how his economic policies would be any different at all than the failed Bush agenda he has supported every step of the way…

The memo also flags a problem for McCain from today’s New York Times:

After several weeks in which the McCain campaign unleashed a series of strong political attacks on Mr. Obama, trying to tie him to a former 1960s radical, among other things, [a new] poll found that more voters see Mr. McCain as waging a negative campaign than Mr. Obama. Six in 10 voters surveyed said that Mr. McCain had spent more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president; by about the same number, voters said Mr. Obama was spending more of his time explaining than attacking.

Obama is promising to reinforce those perceptions at the debate before, during and after McCain brings up you know what.

From The New York Times:

After several weeks in which the McCain campaign unleashed a series of strong political attacks on Mr. Obama, trying to tie him to a former 1960s radical, among other things, the poll found that more voters see Mr. McCain as waging a negative campaign than Mr. Obama. Six in 10 voters surveyed said that Mr. McCain had spent more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president; by about the same number, voters said Mr. Obama was spending more of his time explaining than attacking…

Voters who said their opinions of Mr. Obama had changed recently were twice as likely to say they had grown more favorable as to say they had worsened. And voters who said that their views of Mr. McCain had changed were three times more likely to say that they had worsened than to say they had improved.

The top reasons cited by those who said they thought less of Mr. McCain were his recent attacks and his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate. (The vast majority said their opinions of Mr. Obama of Illinois, the Democratic nominee, and Mr. McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee, had remained unchanged in recent weeks.) But in recent days, Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin have scaled back their attacks on Mr. Obama, although Mr. McCain suggested he might aggressively take on Mr. Obama in Wednesday’s debate.

The poll also found Obama leading McCain nationally by a comfortable 14-percentage point margin, 53 percent to 39 percent. The lead closed to 12-percentage points when third-party candidates were factored in, according to The Times. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Perhaps most shocking was this item, from CBS’ report on the poll:

Among independents who are likely voters – a group that has swung back and forth between McCain and Obama over the course of the campaign – the Democratic ticket now leads by 18 points. McCain led among independents last week.

The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder reported that a McCain campaign official dismissed the poll, saying it “‘falls outside the range’ of where the race is now.”

Perhaps it does, but it must also be raising the eyebrows of the Republican critics of McCain’s campaign management — like conservative columnist Bill Kristol and McCain’s own brother — if not the managers.

On one hand, the McCain campaign can hardly be blamed for choosing to go negative — it’s how underdogs have often turned around elections for generations. But negativity can have the opposite effect of turning off swing voters — who both campaigns are wooing right now.

This year, the presidential nominees had promised a different type of race: honorable and focused on the issues.

When McCain abandoned that pledge out of political expedience, this poll indicates that he may be paying a far higher price than previous candidates.

It also shows he may face a Catch-22 during tonight’s final presidential debate. His conservative base, whose support McCain really doesn’t have to worry about, would like him talk about William Ayers, the Chicago education leader and former member of the Weatherman Underground — though McCain would likely have to go out of his way to broach the subject, which could look desperate. But if he does, he runs the risk of further alienating the moderates whose votes will decide the election.

This debate may be McCain’s final opportunity to shake up this race. One has to wonder if the McCain campaign is re-formulating its debate strategy right now.

McCain was cool and soft-spoken, the grumpiness that reportedly has his campaign staff fretting was left behind. After refusing to even look at Obama during the first debate, and then denying it, McCain went out of his way to look at opponent throughout the debate. The town hall format — his favorite — allowed McCain to interact with the audience, and he didn’t hesitate to walk right up into the audience and speak directly to the questioners.

A few notes:

Despite the fact that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s attacks on Obama for his connection to William Ayers have been grabbing headlines for the last few days, McCain made no mention of Ayers. In fact, throughout the last few days, McCain has yet to mention Ayers, preferring to leave those attacks to Palin and his surrogates.

Although McCain spoke extensively about his work to reduce earmarks, he never repeated his frequent claim that he has never once requested a single earmark or pork-barrel project for his home state. I haven’t heard him say it in a while, so perhaps he’s abandoned this claim. That would be good, considering it’s not true.

Responding to a question about how he would “fix” Social Security and Medicare, McCain devoted his entire answer to Social Security, saying future recipients would probably not receive benefits at same level as current retirees. He also said he would get to discussing Medicare, but never did. This is very convenient, considering one of his own advisers reportedly said McCain’s health plan would require deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in order to be “budget neutral.”

McCain again repeated the claim that Obama has voted 94 times for higher taxes, which FactCheck.org called “inflated and misleading.”

He twice said the United States needs a “steady hand at the tiller” in confronting foreign crises. I would refer readers to Matt Welch of Reason’s analysis of McCain’s frequently uncool hand.

Finally, in answering the final, zen-like question, “What don’t you know and how will you learn it?” McCain responded, “what the unexpected will be.” Very true. He didn’t indicate how he will learn it, but presumably the linear progression of time will take care of that.

So, how did McCain fare? Overall, it was probably a draw. There wasn’t a clear win on either side. Will tonight’s performance be shifting the polls tomorrow? Not likely — and because McCain came into the debate desperately needing a decisive victory, with just one more debate remaining, the lack of one would constitute a defeat.

Sen. Barack Obama campaigns in Fredericksburg, Va. (Flickr, Obama Campaign)

FREDRICKSBURG, Va.– Sen. Barack Obama is not looking back. In a flurry of campaign activity since Friday’s debate, the Democratic presidential nominee hit several large rallies, paired up with Sen. Joe Biden, his running mate, for two joint events, delivered a keynote address to a Congressional Black Caucus gala, sat for a half-hour grilling on “Face The Nation,” huddled with advisers in Chicago and prepared for a tour through Western swing states early this week.

In interviews and discussions aboard the campaign bus, Obama’s aides sold the packed schedule as a contrast to Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, who hunkered down in Washington after the debate, continuing his strategy of playing economic statesman inside the Beltway. “As John McCain sat in his condominium in Arlington, Sen. Obama spoke directly with more than 20,000 voters in North Carolina,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

Illustration by: Matt Mahurin

While all campaigns declare victory after debates, the Obama camp’s post-debate posture looks more like genuine offense than strategic bluffing.

Snap surveys and traditional polling after Friday’s debate largely favored Obama, which campaign manager David Plouffe heralded in a presentation for the traveling press. He pointed to a CBS survey indicating that after the debate, the number of uncommitted voters who said Obama understands their “needs and problems” jumped 21 points, to 79 percent. In a separate question about McCain’s standing, the Republican nominee improved 5 points on that score, from 36 to 41 percent.

Plouffe argued that Obama’s increase was striking because he already had a “healthy edge” on understanding people’s problems. The campaign also flagged a new USA Today/Gallup poll showing that 12 percent more debate viewers thought Obama won on Friday — 46 percent said Obama did better, while only 34 percent who said Mccain did better.

Yet Obama’s aides did not address a significant setback in the same debate polling. While Obama used the debate to prioritize his signature issue of opposing the Iraq war, a view now shared by most of the public, more voters actually thought McCain would make the “right choices” in Iraq.

In fact, McCain’s support on that measure jumped 12 points among uncommitted voters after the debate — to 56 percent. Only 48 percent of voters said the same about Obama, who gained four points on Iraq from the debate, according to the CBS poll of uncommitted voters. Sensing an opening, GOP operatives spent the weekend blasting Obama for advancing a “misguided and weak” foreign policy that offers “defeat” in Iraq.

Without directly responding, Obama’s campaign appears to have staked its confidence on the surveys showing a lead among debate viewers — which suggests that the Iraq issue did not hinder Obama’s overall standing.

The ultimate indicator of a campaign’s confidence, however, is not in the spin or the early polls or debate reviews. It is written, with sparse prose studded with logistics, in a nominee’s weekly schedule.

Obama’s current itinerary reinforces his retooled stump speech: It is a portrait of bullish offense.

Since the debate, Obama has drawn crowds topping 20,000 in two reliably red states, North Carolina and Virginia. It is hard to imagine McCain pulling off the same feat in, say, California. Then, Obama pulled 36,000 to a Sunday rally in the pale blue state of Michigan.

Obama may have been cool and cordial during the debate, but he punched hard at those weekend rallies. He alternatively blasted and mocked his opponent’s campaign. Looking over crowd of 20,000 in Greensboro, N.C., on early Saturday morning, Obama made a show of laughing at McCain’s newfound interest in running as a change agent. “He’s been grabbing our signs, using our slogans. Come on, John!” Obama said, “come up with your own stuff!”

Later, at a large 26,000-person rally at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, where the soccer team rescheduled a game to accommodate the campaign stop, Biden reinforced Obama’s post-debate aggression. He assailed McCain for saying after 9/11 that the U.S. could simply invade “Iraq, Iran or Syria” in retribution for the attacks. The GOP nominee was “dangerously wrong,” Biden hollered, for mistaking Iraq as the central front in the battle against terrorists.

On the economy, Biden depicted McCain as erratic and out of touch, “lurching” between opposite positions. “I served with John McCain,” he said, explaining that he had personally seen McCain devote a career to deregulation and “tethered to Bush’s economic policies.”

As dusk turned to darkness, and rain drenched the enthusiastic young crowd, Obama repeated his core attack on McCain’s debate performance. “Through 90 minutes of debating, John McCain had a lot to say about me, but he had nothing to say about you,” Obama thundered.

The rain kept coming until Obama’s white dress shirt was soaked through. Biden even interrupted, to offer him a baseball cap as protection from the downpour, but Obama declined. The rough weather seemed to mirror Obama’s outrage against McCain’s debate performance: “He didn’t even say the words ‘middle class’ — not once!”

Just as he had at other stops, Obama mixed righteous indignation with withering ridicule. Reprising McCain’s now infamous line about fighting earmarks for bear research in Montana, Obama channeled Jon Stewart to dismiss this as a distraction. “He’s really hung up on those bears,” he said to laughter and applause.

Obama also tweaked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for her doubletalk on earmarks. If you believe McCain and Palin will cut their lobbyist ties after they reach the White House, Obama told the students, “I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Alaska!”

Obama’s happy warrior vibe carried over off-stage, as best I could tell. He made a rare social visit to the press section of “O Force One” on Saturday afternoon, congratulating a Wall Street Journal reporter on her recent engagement. He joshed around, inspecting her ring, asking where her fiancé worked (Goldman Sachs), and bantering with a few other reporters about baseball. Obama looked perfectly happy, and only begged off after a reporter asked a serious question about the debate.

The first presidential debate was widely covered as a draw, though undecided voters leaned towards Obama anyway. That may reflect a gravitational shift towards the Democratic nominee, regardless of his prime-time sparring ability, but even that dynamic could lull Obama into complacency. Some supporters worry that even when he’s doing well, Obama is doing just enough to get by.

“This debate was Obama’s whole campaign in miniature: morally ambiguous, a slew of missed opportunities for devastating blows and a fundamental lack of a well-crafted plan,” wrote Paul Rosenberg on the liberal blog OpenLeft. In the end, he concluded, it was little more than “a good-enough strategic posture smoothly executed to pull out a tie, which is all he really needed.” Obama probably needs more to close the deal.

On Monday, Obama continues his offensive, visiting two states Bush carried in 2004 that could tip the election. He first has a rally at a high school gym in Westminster, Colo., then a stop in Nevada. Yet if swing voters there take to his current style — calm in debate, aggressive on the stump — then Obama may just be a happy warrior long past November.

“Shame on them,” he thundered, striving for the higher ground against the campaign of Hope. “Shame on them!” he repeated, ticking off attacks by the Obama camp that he decried as “absolutely untrue,” and blasting Obama as the gutless loser of the first debate. Obama agreed with McCain “11 times,” Schmidt said, which revealed a defensive posture.

Greg Craig, an Obama adviser who played the role of McCain during the campaign’s debate prep, countered Schmidt from another corner of the room. Craid said that while Obama was confident enough to note where the candidates agreed, such as in assessing the Russian conflict, the “fundamental” disagreements on Middle East policy and the economy will settle the election. “I’d stack those [issues] up against 11 agreements,” he added.

Madeline Albright, secretary of state in the Clinton administration, picked up that theme, telling me that she had personal conversations with former Sec. of State Henry A. Kissinger about engaging Iran at the highest diplomatic levels — which supported Obama’s account during the debate.

While the issues are important, the scene was surreal. The surrogates stood, flanked by operatives hoisting bright oversized campaign signs (Schmidt! Craig!) to draw in reporters, who then transmit all barbs back and forth.

As this ritual played out inside, Obama jovially boarded his campaign bus and fist-bumped an aide, according to a pool report. A TV inside the bus was tuned to CNN, as pundits parsed the debate, and Obama watched the scene unfolding back inside the Spin Room as his bus took him back to his hotel in Memphis.