ZERO?!?!??

The figure/number/amount zero can be used to describe many aspects of the McCain/Palin campaign, so it is fitting that it was this number and McCain's shocked repetition of the word "zero" that provided one of the highlights of tonight's third (and last, and IMO best) Presidential debate. Watch:

"ZERO?!?!??"

Oh my god - talk about walking directly into your worst nightmare! Hey John, don't you know the first rule of lawyers and politicians is never ask a question to which you do not know the answer!

OK, I'll wait a minute while you stop with the stomach-clenching hysterical laughter and pick yourself up off the floor... and then maybe we can list a few other zeros:

• Amount of honour McCain has left after indulging in this negative, shit-throwing campaign: zero


• Amount of credibility McCain has ended up with after picking Sarah Palin as his running-mate: zero


• Amount of proper vetting the McCain campaign appears to have done on Palin before picking her: zero


• Level of understanding McCain has about the economy: zero


• Number of times McCain mentioned the middle class in the first debate: zero


• Number of times McCain mentioned the middle class in the second debate: zero


• Amount of substance to McCain's education plans (if you don't count school vouchers): zero


• Amount of money you'd have left from McCain's $5,000 lump sum after paying for your own medical insurance under his health proposals: less than zero (the average policy costs $12,000 per year)


• Amount of true understanding (as opposed to wilful self-deception) McCain has about the situation in Iraq: zero


• Amount of oil that would be available to the American people within 10 years if McCain/Palin were to start tomorrow with the "drill baby drill": zero


• Amount of empathy or compassion McCain showed for the "health" of the mother when discussing late-term abortion during the debate: zero


• Number of autistic children Sarah Palin has: zero*


• Amount of real-life experience Sarah Palin currently has with addressing the needs of a special needs child: (virtually) zero**


• Number of times McCain frowned, rolled his eyes, or blinked during the debate: more than 3,000

* Seriously, what was with McCain's continued linking of Palin and autism during the debate? Is he confusing Down Syndrome with autism? Doe he think Trig is autistic? Or does he just lump all those "precious" special needs kids into one amorphous blob and not really care what those special needs actually are?

UPDATE: while writing this I've found out through the power of The Google that her nephew is autistic, so maybe he was referring to that, but still... I certainly didn't know that until I went looking for an answer, and judging by the number of other people asking the same question, it's confused a heck of a lot of people out there in Google-land tonight.

** DuppyConqueror at DailyKos wrote a beautiful diary today about his/her big sister who has Down Syndrome, and who is deeply loved and enormously appreciated by her family:

Special needs children should not be used for political gain. The fact that Sarah Palin is dragging Trig around the country and seemingly parading him around disgusts me and my entire family. It is disheartening. It's almost like the McCain campaign found out that Sarah Palin has a special needs kid and was like, "Oh, we can use that!" (I don't doubt it) My family was further enraged when Senator McCain repeatedly stated that Sarah Palin "knows what it's like" to have a special needs child. Trig is a baby. His symptoms won't start showing up significantly until he gets a bit older. It seems that Sarah Palin has no idea what she's in store for. I just hope that she can give Trig the kind of life my parents vowed to, and succeeded in, giving my sister.

Sarah Palin and John McCain, please stop using poor baby Trig as a political tool. It's petty, disgusting, dishonorable, and insults millions of families like mine across America who have worked hard all our lives to give our family members the best lives possible and never have asked for recognition. It's really not winning you any votes, especially when your "spending freeze" would cut funding to - you guessed it - special needs programs, and The Maverick from Seward's Icebox cut special needs funding before she had Trig. Ridiculous.

In closing, let's just remind ourselves of the starting point of this post:

• Number of dollars in fines for non-provision of healthcare for his workers that Joe the Plumber would have to pay under Obama's plan: zero


• Number of Presidential or Vice-Presidential debates won by McCain or his running-mate: ZERO

Tags: Presidential debate, third Presidential debate, Barack Obama, Barack, Obama, John McCain, McCain, zero, YouTube, US politics, Presidential election.