“That’s a debate I’m ready to have.” That explains the town-hall meetings.

Brian Williams seemed strangely thrilled that Obama’s “I’ll have that debate line” is cribbed from Aaron Sorkin’s The American President. I’m not sure it’s such a rhetorical triumph to re-use lines from movies, but beyond that…

The line: “If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have.”

This raises the question of why he refused to join John McCain for any joint town hall appearance this summer.