Flatlining the Debate [Updated]
Since John McCain has already declared himself winner of the first debate (even if he is not Miss Congeniality), does it matter that he seemed like a doddering old party stuck in another era of politics? He was better than Ambien, better than Lunesta in putting the electorate to sleep.
Watching the "debate" with the blue, red and green lines rising and falling, it was stunning to watch the lines go flat as voters of all persuasions dozed off. McCain seemed intent on giving us a tour of all the war zones he'd visited and I'm afraid he occasionally dragged Obama down to his snooze-fest level. He mentioned Ronald Reagan almost as much as he mentioned his war-zone visits and everyone fell asleep.
He seemed to think "You're wrong!" was a rhetorical flourish.
I wish Barack Obama had lifted himself above Mc Cain's snooze-lines. At times, he seemed infected by McCain's lethargy. But Obama was clearer and cleaner in verbal style than he's ever been. I wish he weren't so generous in acknowledging McCain. Perhaps he is too kind to his mean-spirited rival. He is more gentlemanly than he needs to be. It must be a great burden not to seem "uppity." But his new clarity was certainly welcome.
I do hope Obama will continue his clear, direct delivery. I would still like more fire from him. He is authoritative and knowledgeable but at this point. his cool may be self-defeating.
What a bind he must be in! He has to be cool for the people who think he's uppity. He has to be knowledgeable for the people who think he's a new newbie. He did both well. But let's have the fire next time.
UPDATE, 9/27:
Watching the first debate with two friends from the UK--one a Member of Parliament and one a novelist who is a life-long Labour Party supporter, I became aware of things Americans might not notice: One was McCain's low level of fact checking and consistency, his assumption that the electorate would not notice his many reversals and descents into gobbledy gook. The other was my MP friend's commentary on rhetorical mistakes: the over use of sentences beginning with "I" by both candidates, the misunderstanding of the art of debate (better honed in the UK).
But we all agreed that in substance Obama was the most presidential, the most prepared to lead this complex country and the most open-minded. He has both intelligence and emotional intelligence. We could all imagine him negotiating with foreign powers, deliberating calmly on domestic problems, and bringing his far-reaching intellect and obvious goodwill to bear on all matters.
In no way do I mean to slight Obama for his cool deliberation. It is a great strength in a public servant. Sometimes the campaign trail calls for more emphatic statements. Obama is learning that as he goes along.
The main point is: we would all feel comfortable with this smart, humane man in the White House. His values are sound. His brain is capacious and wise. We all wished he were already there!
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In tough, delicate international negotiations with other world leaders, which behavior would be more productive - sneering disrespectfully without looking the other party in the eye, or listening politely and responding calmly and rationally?
It's not about who's the loudest, rudest, most contemptuous, it's about intelligence and keeping your cool in the face of provocation.
And about having a #2 that can back you up - like a grownup.
And about having a #2 that can back you up - like a grownup. EXACTLY
Obama is a counter-puncher. More Ali than Frazier.
To wit, look at tonight's debate from the standpoint not of a partisan - but of an "undecided" voter. Had Obama been dismissive of McSame, or pummeled him too badly, odds are you would have rallied to the Arizona Senator's defense. But by conceding McSame was "right" and being respectful of him, Obama respects your fondness for McSame - making it easier for you to move toward the Obama column.
Having peeled off some of the low-hanging fruit by playing nice, Obama will go after more intransigent "undecideds" in the next debate by being more aggressive. Having sllid further in the polls, McSame will be throwing haymakers.
Oh, and lest we forget, Biden should be getting in a few body blows vs. Palin. (no pun intended!)
Obama '08. Yes, We Can!
McCain did what he always do, give a short answer then finishes it off with a story. Just because he is John Mccain he can get away with it.
We just want the story to end is all.
Thank you for the great post. Most importantly, you've hit the nail on the head! O doesn't come to this arena with the ease of appearing anyway he wants. He must avoid being: the angry black man-thus not too much fire, the upitty black man-thus very gracious , and knowledgable/strong with a right to be on the same stage as Msmake me sick!
I think his supports all forget we have ALL passed the color/race threshold. Many in the audiance have not.
How come McCain did not once actually look at Obama during the debate. I have never seen anything like it. He just did not look at Obama at all.
No eye contact.
He did not give him the courtesy or respect to look at him when giving answers or listening to Obama.
Is he scared, insecure or just has contempt for Obama
I think it's just because he has no honor.
If you were a liar, would you want to look truth in the eye? It's lovely to think McCain might be feeling ashamed of himself.
Every society distrusts the man who won't look you in the eye.
Rome is burning and McCain keeps talking about pork barrel spending. YAWN.
I thought Mccain was better than any other time I've seen him . I was thinking it would be a easy win but he must have taken some viagra or something because he did seem to get one point across that people already have in their heads about Dems -that Obama would be a tax and spend liberal . I didn't hear a strong retort form Obama about what the repugs have done to an economy singlehandedly ( given their majority, not did he remind voters that Clinton had delivered the U.S a surplus of billions that Bush went through in no time .Obama really needs to hammer home the economic mess they have put us in as people associate them with more conservative economics.
The winner ?- Joe Biden who gave Mccain a knockout in the 10th round.
Obama's retort was very effective: he said that Bush had spent us into a huge deficit, and that McCain had voted for all of Bush's budgets.
McCain is a mean-spirited man who thinks he is entitled - it shows - Obama is a down to earth and is willing to engage - McCain is verbose and you get lost in his rhetoric - people who are excessive with words are generally attempting to hide something or are lying -
Every society distrusts a man who can't look you in the eye.
O needs to study Kerry more. He needs to assess how wonkish and emotionless he appeared. Democrats seem to get called on that unless they happened to be named Bill Clinton.
On the other hand, there are probably a lot of people who would have gone back and changed their vote to Kerry considering how the last four years have played out. Obama has to make the election about them, and all of us disgruntled, disgusted Americans, rather than himself or his opponent. He needs to show us that we matter. AND point out that the Republicans, McCain included, have revealed that to them, we don't.
Well, we love you Obama and you did wonderful this evening... in the next debate hit McCain hard and put him in his place.
Palin and McCain need to go to Alaska and take care of the 'less than million people' there.
Obama and Biden are the ONES to lead the UNITED States of America!
Obama had a flag pin on tonight and McCain did NOT!
Erica,
Hello, oh, I am so relieved that there is at least one white person that understands the reason why Barack cannot display the aggression and anger that so many people want him to show. It is a dilemma, but I whole heartedly agree with Barack's approach.
But he can control the aggression without saying over and over and over again that "John is righ", or "I totally agree with John". Now they are using that as an ad for McCain.
Yes. It frustrates me no end to hear commentary, even from people I know are on his side.
The bar is always higher for Barack. He has to avoid the "angry black guy" stereotype (which is unfair, because I don't think being righteously peeved is a right reserved to whites) but if he's too collected then he lacks "fire". If he shows he's smart he risks "uppity", and if he dumbs the discourse down then he's "naive". Arugula has caused him more problems than any vegetable should and now Chris Matthews apparently thinks his sunglasses are "elite"...
Politics is a lousy stinker of a process.
Grace we need. No more screaming matches or knockout punches, lets some rational civilized problem solving.
I totally agree...I get why Obama doesn't go all fire, because of some idiots out there he has to walk a fine line...but I did love how he handled the out and out attacks from McCain...I hope to see fire too...
I agree that Obama was better than he's ever been. McCain is a very typical post-Reagan Republication--what you say is less important than being emotional. Obama held his own. I honestly believe that Obama is genuinely too nice for this sort of thing. He passed on numerous opportunities to score points on McCain. I watched McCain's left eye the whole time. It flutters when he's stressed. Obama should have attacked him every time that eye went goofy. I know that Obama KNOWS the facts, but he has a real problem bringing them to bear at the write moment in the debate. To win a debate, it is not enough to defend your position, you must make your opponent defend his. McCain knows this - you don't have to defend your own positions if you can continuously make your opponent defend his positions. Obama needs to watch the tape on this one and work to hone his technique.
I totally agree with you.
What McCain did essentially, was to spit and out so many lies and 'half truths' that Obama was forced to spend most of his time explaining to the public that what McCain just said wasn't true. That would be fine if this would have actually would stopped McCain from doing it again. But of course that didn't happen. Instead McCain -without ever looking at Obama once- just grins, takes a deep breath and spits out a new pack of lies and this goes on and on.
There are three debates and I think Obama used this one to let McCain spin out enough rope to hang himself.
Sen Obama showed ire & fire to Sen McCain's more absurd remarks. McCain tried everyones patience when he went over his time limits & rambled in an attempt to confuse all of us including Sen Obama. While some of Sen McCain's confusion may not be feigned, he acts confused to hog debate time too often. Sen Obama contained his anger & limited it to baleful gazes at Sen McCain. We may expect more fire in his words & acts from Sen Obama as he is forced to deal with Sen McCain's hoary, clumsy ruses. McCain signals that he really doesn't want to become POTUS when he speaks of suspending his campaign. McCain reminds me of Ross Perot when Sen McCain tries to use the flimsy pretext of going to Washington to deal with the melt down of 9/15/08 to avoid appearing at debate or cease campaigning or to suspend his campaign. The truth is not in Sen McCain, the ersatz maverick who, in reality, supports W's failed schemes.
Yup - You nailed it. The Mr. Nice Guy routine from Sen. Obama and Pres. Clinton has to morph into something more forceful. They were pretty good at dishing it out at each other. How about some of that fire in the belly against the Republicans. Oh, and don't try to muzzle Sen. Biden. He deserves the opportunity to knock one out of the park - With all due respect to Gov Palin's delicate constitution.
when 0bama "dished it out to Clinton" in a debate his numbers plummeted!!!!
He said "Hillary is likeable enough" and you would have thought he called her the C word
Presidential! Above the frey. Focus on decison not on emotion. Emotion has brought this country many horrific decisions. Create your own fire, let a level headed, cool diplomat lead this country into a new era of tolerance. WE can't afford poor decisions. Iraq was an emotional and fired response. That is why all self-defense worth learning teaches unemotional reaction. Do not fight when angry... Do not make decisions when emotional. All great thinkers and spiritual leaders will teach this same lesson. Emotion got us into this mess... thoughfulness will remove us form this mess.
co-signing
co-co-signing.
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