Day 16: October 22

13 days to Election Day

The show opens with a discussion of McCain's new attempts to paint Obama as a "spread the wealth around" socialist," by way of comments he made to the McCain campaign's new mascot, Joe the Plumber. Olbermann attacks McCain on two fronts: first, by insulting McCain supporters who booed Obama's plan for not understanding that they wouldn't be adversely affected unless they make $250,000 a year, and for not understanding that all taxes spread wealth. Second, he mocks McCain for slipping up in trying to condemn John Murtha's derogatory statements about western Pennsylvania, first by accidentally agreeing with him, then by insulting the rest of the country by saying they were the most patriotic and God-fearing people in the country.

Chris Cillizza then joins the show, greeted with a crack from Olbermann, "Let's start in the Holy Land, western Pennsylvania." He shows incredulous disbelief that McCain actually thinks this tactic will work, and asks Cillizza for some baseless speculation on how tired John McCain is, how much of a burden Palin's (yet-to-be-mentioned) big spending on clothes will be, and why the campaign keeps trying to use Joe the Plumber when it appears that he is a totally ineffective political tool.

Olbermann follows that by re-airing in full the original exchange between Obama and Joe the Plumber, and a long clip of an interview between McCain, Palin, and Brian Williams -- preceded by several impressions gathered by Chuck Todd, who also participated. Todd, says Olbermann, claimed that there was a "lack of chemistry" between the two, and that "it was as if they grabbed two people and said, here, sit next to each other, we're going to conduct an interview." Todd also wondered "whether McCain is now blaming his V.P. pick for his ailing campaign." This isn't blatant political bias, and considering that it's based on actual reporting, Patterson likely wouldn't have too much of a problem with it.

Next is a discussion of the recent endorsement of John McCain by a website with ties to al Qaeda, with Olbermann trying to make the case that the war in Iraq is good for the terrorist group. Richard Clarke joins the program, and Olbermann does the television equivalent of leading the witness in court to reach this possibly politically motivated position. Clarke then speculates on whether an al Qaeda tape would have the same effect today that it did in 2004, whether al Qaeda knows that Americans are less concerned with terrorism now than they are with the economy and other issues, and whether the McCain campaign was prepared for this odd endorsement.

Rudy Giuliani, the Nike San Francisco women's marathon, and congresswoman Michelle Bachman highlight today's "Worst Persons." Giuliani makes it for blaming Bill Clinton for 9/11, the marathon for "choosing" the winner of the race, and Bachman for blaming Chris Matthews for her comments about how members of Congress are "anti-American." This is the first time in quite a while someone has made the list without affiliation to the Republican Party, so it's a kind of watershed moment for Olbermann's pervasive liberal bias.

The show ends with a typically biting Special Comment from Olbermann about the hypocrisy of the McCain campaign: calling Obama a celebrity, when Palin is the one spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on clothing; blaming Obama for "attacking" Joe the Plumber when it is only because of McCain that he came into the national spotlight; mocking Obama for supporting both teams in the World Series when Palin had done the same with the Rays and the Red Sox. He says, "If John McCain complains about Sen. Obama, you can count on it, whatever it is; John McCain or Sarah Palin or both have done it more, or earlier, or worse, or more obviously." Once again: obvious political bias, though it's in the form of an editorial comment, so it's less of an infringement on Patterson than normal segments.