Nervous Old Male

David Broder in the Washington Post of September 28, 2008, writes an opinion piece entitled "McCain as the Alpha Male."

Since the term "alpha male" comes out of primatology, and I have known many males who qualify, I feel like commenting on Broder's observation

"... an imbalance in the deference quotient between the younger man and the veteran senator -- an impression reinforced by Obama's frequent glances in McCain's direction and McCain's studied indifference to his rival."

Looking at the body language of the candidates, however, I did not come away with the same impression. A confident alpha male chimpanzee would never show studied indifference. I have seen such behavior only in males who were terrified of their challenger. Chimpanzees provoke higher-ups by making impressive displays in their vicinity, hooting loudly in their direction, and sometimes lobbing objects at them to see what happens. Will the other startle or will he return the challenge? It's a war of nerves.

A self-confident alpha male just approaches his challenger and sets him straight, either by attacking him or performing a spectacular display of his own. No avoidance of eye contact: he takes the bull by the horns.

It rather is the hesitant or fearful alpha male who avoids looking straight at the other, sidesteps him as if nothing happened, ducks when objects fly, and just hopes that the other will give up and go away. This may work, but also signals weakness. One day, the challenger will pick up courage and do something more drastic, such as hitting the old guy's back. If the latter still tries to ignore his challenger after this, he's toast.

I read the body language between McCain and Obama as that between a senior male being challenged by a remarkably confident junior one. The senior didn't know exactly what to do. He avoided eye contact and body orientation, probably realizing that a direct confrontation might not go his way.

If McCain was an alpha male, it was an incredibly insecure one.

In another primatological reflection, a year ago I wrote about Hillary Clinton as alpha female, stating that only post-reproductive females will likely be successful securing massive support, since they pose no sexual competition to other females. McCain's choice of a female running mate of reproductive age obviously violated this rule, and it doesn't surprise me that she now has more support among men than women. In fact, the logic of sexual competition would predict that the former support will erode the latter.

Seeing an older male paired with a much younger female sets off red flags in the heads of many women, so that for McCain and Palin to appear side-by-side may be problematic. This is another major drawback to his choice of running mate, since appearing together is a critical part of political communication. It show others who your coalition partners are. Male chimps who are united groom each other, walk together, display in synchrony, all of which tells everybody else "we stick together, don't mess with us." This is relatively easily done between males, and such bonding has indeed been on display between Obama and Biden, two differently aged males with mutually understanding smiles and back slaps. Following the debate, Biden was on TV to praise Obama's performance (not unlike the way chimps hoot along with their heroes from a distance to signal support), whereas Palin was nowhere in sight.

It may be hard for McCain to avoid the appearance of being a loner.

For a recent interview (8 September, 2008) about the comparisons between primate and human politics listen to CBC's "The Current" (scroll down to Part 3: Political Primatologist).

Comments

[MomsHugs]

McCain's treatment of Obama is no surprise from a biological view of primate behavior. McCain & Pres. Bill Clinton are older ALPHA males dominating national politics for 25 years & treat Obama as a younger alpha challenger - by scowling at him with "Beat it!" alpha behavior. Obama continues to challenge in his own calmer fashion - successfully if polls are to be believed - which continues to frustrate & irritate Sen. McCain. He may yet show that infamous temper at the final debate.

My statement about McCain's rather obvious alpha male behavior toward Obama (also that of Bill Clinton - an UBER alpha male) is not intended to be a treatise on the nuances of alpha behavior patterns. However, I would agree with Dr. de Waal that McCain's alpha behavior is that of a distinctly INSECURE male in the process of being challenged by a younger - perhaps stronger - alpha male. Note that Biden, another older alpha who lost when Obama challenged him, is now supporting him.

However, my point is - the press & online media need to get off these distracting topics. Our nation & these candidates need to focus on this one question -- how are sufficient revenues going to be raised to pay the HUGE 2009 bloated budget + bailout guarantees??? A budget that is bloated with military spending requested by the DOD/Pentagon - full of 'pork' for military contractors (aka Welfare Kings) I might add! The answers to that question is of the

[Evelyn S]

I recommend de Waal's books as enjoyable as well as insightful, full of the kind of keen observations that make us better at interpreting our own interactions with other humans. Peacemaking Among the Primates particularly comes to mind, for his observations of (e.g.) the "holdbottom" peacemaking ceremony -- not that I think we'll see that in Washington any time soon....

I listened to the debate on radio, so I missed the visual clues completely, but what came through for me was more a big dog/little dog interaction. Big dog says "Hi, I'm relaxed and confident. Nice day." Little dog says "Yap yap yap yap I'll bite your kneecaps off!"

I noticed how creepily like Bush McCain's pseudo-fol­ksy-with-a­-whiney-un­dertone vocalizations were. Hearing but not seeing also brought out the changes in tone -- toggling on "emotion" for stock phrases, going all quavery over anything including the word "veterans.­" How many times has he misted up over that bracelet?

When Obama said "I have a bracelet too" he sounded disgusted. He was patient with the little dog, but sometimes you say "Woof!" just to stop the hysterics.

[loveHP]

So, how do we get your article in the Washington Post to counter Broder's drivel? I was quite disappointed to see his article as a featured link on the Yahoo Election coverage page.

[Querent]

I believe McCain's hands were shaking at times, and to me he looked just furious all the time. He was scowling, glaring off in space, making faces, and growling under his breath. He was visibly controlling his anger.

What will happen if McCain becomes president at the historical moment when Bush has made the presidency into a de-facto dictatorship? What will be McCain's incentive to control himself once he has made the sale? Do we really want a hothead militarist to lead us at a time when Bush has destroyed our foreign relationships? Do we really want to fight another war because of somebody's "gut"?

What was it that John McCain was so angry about? What was Barack Obama's offense? Was it just that he is the nominee of his party to be President? Is that worthy of resentment bitter enough to kindle anger?

[Querent]

John McCain has modeled himself on Bush. He is using the same non-rational bases for making decisions that Bush did--- his "gut", his "experience". He thinks he knows what Kissinger would say on any given issue because he knows Kissinger. But it turns out that Kissinger really said what John McCain said he could not have said. And again, McCain refuses to admit it.

John McCain's moment was in 2000, but he was too unstable at that time to win the Republican nomination over Bush. Too bad--- he might've done better than Bush, or he might have lost the election to Gore. His moment is past. He is flickering in and out of senility. He should retire to Sedona and write his memoirs, and try to maverikize the Republican ideology. He is not going to be President.

[ohioan73]

I still haven't gotten over a comment made on a HuffPo blog by a reader. It was the funniest thing I heard/read in a long time. It was in reference to the "I have a bracelet, too" moment of the debate. The reader mentioned that he half expected it to turn into a show-a-tell of personal clothing items:

"Well, I'm wearing the underwear of a Private Smith..."
"Well, I'm wearing his mother's thong..."
LMAO!

I would classify that as an alpha-male display for sure.

[gleeco]

If humans were descended from apes that is.

[Querent]

The point is, since 99% of human DNA is identical to that of chimps, it is reasonable to expect that we have great similarities. After all, the study of the social behavior of one set of individuals expands the context of the study of another. Sorry. I tried to stick with one-syllable words, but it was no go.

[qwr]

As de Waal has stated in interviews, we are primates, so what's the problem with the comparison?

[qwr]

Hard to tell whether you are serious.

[Caczak]

In my opinion, Obama edged out McCain in the debate. But I think that the real effect will be that he has quelled the fears and concerns of those who were leaning toward him but were uncertain of his experience. I think that he show that he could go toe to toe with McCain in the area (foreign policy) which McCain has long-touted as his own, and demonstrated that he (Obama) has more than reach the bar of competence in that area. Obama showed particular confidence and strength in being able on many occasions to state his agreement with points made by McCain before he clarified his differences. McCain, who claims to be of such ecumenical capability with the Dems, repeatedly droned that "Sen. Obama does not understand­." I think it unlikely that McCain could have kept his cool had Obama used those words against HIM, and kudos to Obama for keeping HIS cool. Obama did seem to let McCain off the hook by never once talking about McCain's last minute opportunistic conversion to the need for government regulatory authority when he had for 26 years fought against it. Also, when McCain, in regard to Iraq, suggested that it is what the new President will do now and not what had been done, Obama should have reminded us that it is one's judgment in the past on which we can base assessment of future judgments.­.

[Midnightrain]

Don't fail to mention that Mac's voice was shaking. His nervousness was apparent, I don't know why it's taking folks so long to admit it.

[lizinatl]

"I have a bracelet too"....ch­oice words for adding context ...I sincerely believe the media has missed the impact of this remark on the 'symbolism' of experience

old vs. new; past vs. future; experienced vs. tempered; angry vs. graceful ... I think I relate to Obama's bracelet!!

Obama - Biden 08 - let it be!

[priysmom]

Very interesting article. I completly agree. McCains refusal to even look Obama while he was talking to him was so disrespectful. I thought i might have been a tactic to throw Obam off....but the more I study it , I find it wasnt. McCAin was so angry....
I also have to wonder if he was not feeling shameful for all the lies he told about Obama....i­ts one thing to lie about some one , but to lie about someone and have to face them ...with the chance of being called out in front of millions is another thing all together.
McCain is a disgrace, his campaign is a disgrace, his VP choice is a disgrace(I actually feel sorry for her...almo­st, till i remember her snarky additued she came out with.must say, what an additude adjustment she made.)
how can one be trusted to meet with leaders of foreign countries who's policy he might oppose ...if he can not look them in the eye? How can we trust him to be diplomatic abroad if he can't here at home.Who is better suited to represent America...­....Obama.

[beebop2]

After reading this I can't help but wonder if part of the reason for the gender gap might be that we keep nominating such attractive men. Guys can't like it that we "have a crush on Obama" anymore than we like it that Palin is "hot"

[Whatashame]

Obama has to be very careful the way he approaches McCain in a debate. If he goes at McCain too harshly the MSM and the public will say he is beating up on an OLD white man. Its a very fne line he's walking. This can not be easy for Obama. One thing I must say, Obama has a lot of self control.

[Whatashame]

John McCain is a TYRANT.

[XME]

I absolutely agree that McCain came of as the old alpha dog who was being challenged by the younger one in an attempt to take over. McCain's refusal to even look at Obama certainly seemed weak to me. My impression was that McCain was angry and felt that it was an insult to his stature for him to have to share the stage with someone he believes isn't deserving. I also got the impression that his refusal to look at Obama was a tactic on his part to control his temper, that if he did look at him and interact, he might explode. I certainly saw someone who was seething on the inside because Obama dared to challenge his stature and experience. And the fact that he wouldn't look at him showed an acknowledgement that he felt threatened­...that in spite of feeling he's undeserving, he had a sense that the "beta dogs" might actually accept Obama as their new alpha dog.

[Whatashame]

XME, You could not have said it best.