When the news first came out that the McCain campaign announced they had to go negative to have a chance, I though, "Oh, my gawd, these people are stupid!"  But when the pundits before the debate brought it up over and over again, I suddenly realized what was going on.  They had made this announcement because they wanted Obama to think they would go negative.  That way, if he fell for it, he'd be ready to counterattack when McCain could seem to take the high road. 

Then, again, I thought, "My gawd, these people are stupid!"  Obama's been at least a step ahead of him this whole time, did they really think he was going to fall for that?

But on third thought, it did work on the pundits.  At least a few gave McCain points for not trying to rip Obama's heart out on stage.