So I watched More4’s coverage of the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain last night and the main thing that struck me was that McCain refused to look at Obama even once. I think he might have glanced at his opponent maybe twice but it looked almost accidental and it really did seem like it was on purpose.
The explanation? Well either his advisors thought it would give the impression that Obama wasn’t WORTH addressing and somehow tacitly imply that he wasn’t worthy of voting for OR he genuinely holds enough contempt for Obama that this was a deliberate act of disrespect. Alternatively, he looked as uncomfortable as he normally does, stumbling over his words and shifting position a lot (physically I mean!) and perhaps this was just an extension of this, that he was almost literally afraid to look Obama in the eye.
As for the debate overall I think it was a tie which in a sense is a point to Obama since this was supposedly McCain’s strongest area. I do think that Obama will have a tougher time since he tries not to shy away from the complexity of issues whereas McCain just dumbs them down to a pull-quote but he’s got this far with that approach so perhaps it will continue to see him progress.
I can’t wait for the VP debates next week …
Tags: Election 08, Random Thoughts
