Friday, September 26, 2008

McCain's making two big mistakes

It's coming up to 10 PM ET.

There's still 30 minutes left, but it's already clear to me Sen. McCain's made two big mistakes.

One, he's not "talking to the camera."

Most of the time he's answering, he's looking at Jim Lehrer.

You'd think Lehrer had more electoral votes than Penn., Ohio and Mich. combined.

A big part of why John Kennedy did so well in the 1960 debates with Richard Nixon is he looked at the camera, and therefore the millions watching on TV while Nixon looked at his questioners.

Two, and I think a bigger mistake than not looking at the camera, is McCain's not looking at Sen. Obama.

Not doing so is making McCain look - choose your unattractive adjective.

By not making eye contact with Sen. Obama, McCain's coming across as looking angry and disrespectful. Somewhat isolated from the debate and defensive, too.

Interesting that Obama has continued to look at McCain.

3 comments:

Expat(ish) said...

I think McCain is emphasizing his experience and understanding of the issues with detail that BHO can't manage.

Plus he's not getting "goaded" into getting mad.

I think BHO is looking angry a lot.

-AC

Unknown said...

Did you see the non-handshake at the end? McCain tried to shake Obama's hand twice afterwards, even after they shook the spouse's hands. After Obama snubs him a second time, McCain makes a "What can I do?" type hand gesture. Amazing.

Anonymous said...

I would agree with AC' comment. Additionally, the eye rolling and smirking of Obama is disrespectful. While neither candidate delivered any knockoput punch - I thought that the quiet summation of McCain was extremely effective - that should be used in a campaign video. THe other campaign video that McCain should put out is one with pictures of Obama with Raines, Gorelick and Johnson - all who were involved at Freddie Mac and Fannie May with the amount of the mortgages they received and the sweetheart deals that they received in terms of discount points and interest. The question should be posed - Can one really believe Obama when he states that he and his advisors understand the current financial crisis and will have the determination and honesty to really change business as ususal both on Wall Street and in Washington?
cks