It's 9:29, and as soon as I post this, I'm outta here.
I enjoyed tonight's presidential debate and thought both men did a good job. Makes me more comfortable with whichever one wins.

Here's our editorial on the debate that will run Saturday.

Candidates come out swinging, play to a tie

Barack Obama and John McCain come off as engaged, knowledgeable and more than willing to mix it up.

Neither presidential candidate hit a home run in Friday night’s debate, but neither struck out either.

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain accomplished what each needed to do. Obama had to show he’s comfortable with foreign affairs, that he could handle America’s security threats with resolve. McCain needed to at least hold his own on economic issues – by his own admission not his strongest suit – and not lose his cool.

Obama needed to link McCain with the Bush administration as much as possible, and McCain needed to paint Obama as just another tax-and-spend liberal.

Missions accomplished.

=> Read more!

This editorial will appear in Sunday's paper.

The titanic collapse of Seattle-based Washington Mutual is more proof that the U.S. government must come up with a convincing strategy to rescue the financial sector.

It also illustrates why the public – now angry over the idea of a bailout – has so much at stake in a a rescue. The real victims of inaction are likely to be the little guys, not the big guys.

=> Read more!

The presidential debate's on for 6 p.m. tonight. For those of you who will be watching near a computer, head to the FactCheck Wire, where Annenberg Public Policy Center watchdogs will be doing their best to debunk misleading claims and unravel sound bites as the debate unfolds.

Saturday: Our take on the first presidential debate.

Sunday: The freezing of the credit market and Washington Mutual’s huge collapse – forced by a panicked run on deposits – shows how the financial crisis could devastate ordinary folks. Unpopular as it is, federal intervention is crucial.

Monday: Tacoma’s complaint-driven sidewalk repair program is a hit-and-miss approach that's bad for pedestrians and property owners alike.

If you have comments or questions about these topics, please email them to patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com. Editorials represent the consensus view of The News Tribune's editorial board.
Want to sit in on a daily ed board meeting? Email cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com to make an appointment.

Last month, we bemoaned the slow-poke nature of the state's campaign watchdogs as a disservice to voters. But we'll give credit where credit is due.

For the first time since 2004, Public Disclosure Commission staffers this week short-circuited their own investigation to give commissioners a chance to review a complaint in a timely fashion. That decision was validated yesterday by a 4-1 vote to send apparent campaign finance violations by the Republican Party to the attorney general for review.

Letting complaints languish cuts both ways. It allows scurrilous accusations to fester and unfairly sway an election. And it permits actual violations to go unpunished until the race has already been won or lost.

Seattle's long and mostly fruitless struggle to settle on a plan for replacing the creaky Alaskan Way Viaduct took a new turn this week.

On his Crosscut website, David Brewster broke the news (and posted sketches) of House Speaker and Seattle Democrat Frank Chopp's own vision of how to do the job:

He would build a mega-structure where the Viaduct now stands, just as high and almost twice as wide. The two ground floors would be developed as commercial space all along the structure, except for portals at street crossings. Next level would be an enclosed highway, three lanes in each direction (maybe one lane each way for buses), with vent openings at each cross street cutting under the highway. Atop would be a park with splendid views of Elliott Bay, 90 feet wide and extending more than a mile from the Pike Place Market to South King Street. Lastly, surface traffic would be routed to the east of this megaduct and along Western Avenue, so the (rather narrow) promenade on the waterfront, alongside the docks, would be traffic- and (almost) noise-free.

As Brewster notes, Chopp's concept is "wildly unpopular" among the Seattle politicos who know about it, but Chopp is "wildly powerful" in Olympia. Stay tuned.

As the editorial writers were talking Thursday about the proposed bailout and the editorial we would run today, I suggested that I wanted to see some "perp walks" – big-money CEOs marched away in handcuffs.

Sound a little cold? That's nothing compared to what Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer proposes in a column that moved just before news of a tentative bailout deal was leaked Thursday. The column seems dated now, so it probably won't run. But his suggestion goes a bit farther than my perp walk idea.

(I'm guessing this is tongue in cheek, but with Krauthammer you never really know.)

What we need are a few exemplary hangings. Public hangings. On television.

Pick a few failed investment firms, lead their CEOs in chains through the canyons of Manhattan and give the mob satisfaction. Better still, precede the auto-da-fe — fire is highly telegenic — with 24-hour reality-TV coverage of their recantations, lamentations and final visits with the soon-to-be widowed.

The ratings would dwarf “American Idol,” and the ad revenue alone would make the perfect down payment on the $700 billion. Whatever it takes to clear our heads.