Saddleback: The First McCain-Obama Encounter

On Saturday, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama met for their first encounter of the 2008 presidential campaign at the Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, organized and moderated by Rick Warren, the pastor of the evangelical mega-church and the author of the 25 million copies bestseller The Purpose Driven Life. The meeting was not a debate; in fact the two candidates were on stage at the same time for only 36 seconds when Obama, who appeared first, departed and McCain arrived. However, the format provided a virtual confrontation of their differing positions without, as CNN's Bill Schneider observed, the usual acrimony of a debate.

Warren gave each candidate his own hour to respond to an identical set of questions. During Obama's hour, McCain, as Warren explained, waited in a "cone of silence," so that he would have no advance knowledge of the questions. There was no need for such measures because McCain, as did Obama, responded to all the questions with their previously-established and often-stated positions on the issues. There were no surprises in the content.

There was a surprise, however, in the delivery. For months now, the media has painted Barack Obama as the silver-tongued orator and John McCain as the stiff, error-prone, volatile curmudgeon. Stop the presses: their roles reversed.

• Succinctness. Obama's answers rambled into long erudite analyses and complex discussions of nuances. He may have been that deliberate because he knew that "the conservative Saddleback crowd ...was not going to be on his side," as Byron York of The National Review said in his excellent discussion of the event.

In addition, Obama's rambles were exacerbated by a proliferation of "Ums," "Ahs," and "Y'knows," that made his answers seem even longer. McCain, on the other hand, true to his "Straight Talk Express" slogan, made his responses prompt and succinct. (A side note: In Warren's introduction to the format he said, "The number of questions will depend on how succinct the senator is." He pronounced the key word as "sussinct" when the correct pronunciation is "suksinkt.")

• Time Management. Warren's introduction proved prophetic. Because Obama dwelled on his answers, he fielded fewer questions than did McCain. Warren pointed this out during McCain's section when he said, "Here is a security question I didn't get to with Senator Obama. We didn't have enough time." The briskness of McCain's answers made him appear more assured. They also gave him extra time to tell what he called "stories."

• Stories. Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator, (whom McCain referenced 3 times during his hour) was a master of the human interest story, a masterful technique he used often to connect with audiences and the electorate. McCain told four illustrative stories about himself or people he knew, Obama told just one.

• Topspin. Politicians are known to "spin" their messaging, meaning to give their position a favorable slant. Spinning has taken on a pejorative connotation because it frequently results in unsatisfactory answers if not complete evasion. Topspin, a term drawn from tennis, in messaging consists of first dealing directly with an issue, and then (and only then) to go on to state one's own position. (For readers of my books, Topspin means adding a call to action, also known as Point B.) In the Saddleback forum, Barack Obama had 3 or 4 Topspins, one in response to Warren's question, "Tell me in a minute, why you want to be president?" John McCain had about a dozen.

• Posture. The set was a simple desk with two chairs facing each other, one for Warren and the other for the candidate. During Obama's hour, he spent most of his time leaning toward Warren, his hands close to his body, appearing almost deferential; perhaps a function of being a liberal in a conservative enclave. During McCain's portion, he sat up straight, his elbow propped on the desk, talking to the crowd of 2,000, and appeared assertive and confident.

Add it up and McCain came out ahead on delivery skills. Michael Gerson of The Washington Post summed up Barack Obama's style "on Saturday night it did not compare well with McCain, who was decisive, passionate and surprisingly personal."

The two men will meet again in 3 direct debates between now and the election. How each of them presents could influence the outcome in a race that has a statistically-insignificant 3 points separating them in the public opinion polls. As Chuck Todd, NBC's political director noted about Obama "he seemed a little rusty and clearly has some work to do before he meets McCain face-to-face on Sept. 26, the night of the first presidential debate in Oxford, MS."

Comments

[EForst]

I agree with ColoradoSiren that Obama's thoughtfulness is an advantage. McCain"s crisp, clear answers remind me of Bush. Especially, McCain"s curt assertion that evil should be defeated. While such sure-headedness in a leader may give comfort, it should also give pause, because it was such simplistic, single-minded thinking that allowed Bush to declare his "war on terror" against an "axis of evil." Based on such rhetoric, we launched the war in Iraq, the greatest foreign policy blunder in US history. Obama"s analytical and nuanced approach should allow us to revisit not only the decision to invade and occupy Iraq, but also the disastrous domestic and economic policies of the past 8 years.

[ThunderclapNewman]

Obama gave thoughtful nuanced answers.

McMaverick gave his usual stump speech, word for word.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

Style over substance got us McBush for eight years.

[coloradosiren]

We have already had this conversation on other fronts. Obviously there are many of us who disagree with you on the outcome and the delivery of content to the questions asked. Let's not even get into the cone BS. What is there to say for those who are looking for short decisive, one worded answers to the complex problems and issues of today. Obama demonstrated again the ability to see and analyze issues from more than one perspective. He also showed more respect for the forum by responding in a serious manner. "Yes, Yes and NO" doesn't do it for me without some substance to explain it.

[rickmv]

This analysis is completely accurate inasmuch as it addresses the presentation of the candidates. I also believe that Obama's presentation defects are enhanced by his lack of experience, both in life and in politics. His answers are theories that he has developed over the last few months. I believe all of the stammering is due to the fact that he is trying to remember how he and his team decided he should answer a particular question. There is also the constant equivocation, which voters rightly see as simply not having a real position. I don't see this changing in two weeks, and with a race that is basically tied, it is a big problem for Obama, maybe one he cannot correct.

[alphax]

Can a Warmonger be Pro-life?

[LAB10]

Sure. One that walks in flip flops.

[chefrasta]

You right even though it helps when you have a heads up on what would be ask