I don’t know if there are any major revelations to be gathered from these, but I think they are interesting to look at.

Here they are, in chronological order (click each image to view larger):

A few quick observations:
1. Both VP nominees talked a lot about their respective running mates.
2. The Democrats talked about John McCain more than the Republicans talked about Barack Obama.
3. John McCain’s most used verb appears to be ‘Fight’. Barack Obama’s appears to be ‘Work’. (I’m assuming ‘Promise’ is generally used as a noun in Obama’s speeches, but I could be wrong.)

Anyone else have any interesting observations?

McCain’s ‘Spiritual Advisor’, Rod Parsley:

Apparently, comparing the American Government to the Nazi Party is perfectly acceptable. Does anyone have a cheat-sheet or something that I could consult to know what is and what isn’t Anti-American hate speech? Bill O’Reilly and company; if you are going to play this card, the least you can do is be consistent.

Hillary Clinton: The Lesboerotic Spin Off

John McCain: The Republicans’ Attempt At It

His ability to engage us as citizens is far above that of any other candidate. I’d like to share the following line that really stuck with me:

You see, the challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night. It will not be resolved on even a Super Duper Tuesday. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

A bit reminiscent of Kennedy’s what you can do for your country speech, don’t you think? It really touches on what I think real leadership is about. It’s not simply about being the boss; it’s about creating passion and empowering those you lead. It’s about making people WANT to work together towards mutual goals.

The complete transcript is available here.

Here’s a video:

Its timeliness is uncanny.

Hitler and Lenin used fear to manipulate their followers into granting them unchecked power. That Bush would cite these men as examples in order to convince Americans to give up more of our civil liberties is beyond ironic.

Joe Biden said “Christ’s Warning of the Pharisees.”

I thought this was an interesting answer, so I did some research this morning. While there are different interpretations of what Biden may have meant by this, I really like the explanation given by Ann Althouse:

If you understand the reference, it actually is a subtle way to imply that religion should not be used publicly for the purpose of achieving worldly goals. It’s good to remind religious people — especially religious people who crave more religion in their politics — that Jesus set his religion apart from politics and gives Christians a religious basis for the separation of church and state.

It’s more than a bit strange that this question was even asked in a Presidential debate in a country built on a foundation one of the cornerstones of which is the separation of Church and State.

There is lots of good discussion of this particular question on Ann Althouse’s Blog. It’s also a great look at some of the answers that could have been, including Samuel L Jackson’s recitation of Ezekiel 25:17 from Pulp Fiction.