Fitwithandrea’s Weblog

Well, in the end McCain actually did show up for the debate after all that ridiculous noise leading up to it.  And when he did, it was a good thing ….. for Obama!

Okay, as for substance – Blah, blah, blah.  Most people who were already sure whom they will support prior to this debate, pretty much knew where both were on the issues and knew the fundamental differences between them (i.e. McCain = Bush, Obama = not), and people who were leaning towards one or were undecided, probably won’t remember exactly what was being said by whom.  What they will remember, though, is this

ONLY ONE CANDIDATE ON STAGE LOOKED PRESIDENTIAL !

And that was Obama.  While both candidates certainly are able to handle the affairs as president (gosh, the bar is so low now after the past eight years), this first debate was probably the most important one for Obama as this election is all about him.  People who didn’t know much about him before wanted to see whether he is this naive, radical airhead who doesn’t know anything about anything as he had been portrayed by McNasty and Co., or somebody who is in full command of the issues and whose opinions are in line with where the population is at this point.  People wanted to see whether they can imagine him in the White House, being able to make rational, thoughtful, pragmatic and sometimes tough decisions for the benefit of the people, as Commander-in-Chief, and as a good representative of our country when meeting with foreign leaders (badly needed).  And on all those issues Obama by far exceeded expectations.  In addition, he overcame his perceived weaknesses by connecting with people, dropping his sometimes a bit professorial style by giving crisp answers that were easy to follow and to understand, and being just a very likable guy that people can feel comfortable with.

AND WE LIKE TO ELECT THE LIKABLE GUY !

As for McCain:  Even though his Republican base was quite satisfied with him as he hit all the usual Republican stereotypes, I think most other people came away a little annoyed.  Condescending, angry and small, that’s how I would describe his demeanor and I have a feeling that it won’t sit well with people, and early results from focus groups underline that point.  When watching him, I almost had a feeling that he might be thinking “How dare this guy even stand on the same stage with me?”  It showed a lot of disrespect towards somebody who like himself, is a candidate for president, and in Obama’s case after a very hard fought primary season, running the best organized campaign in the history of politics, and at this point favored to become president.  So, I think a lot of people got ticked off by the lack of respect.  His constant use of “naive” and “you don’t understand” fail to have an impact when the other guy shows a complete command of the issues.  It would work better if you use those words with somebody where it actually applies, and I’m picking a name here at random ….. Sarah Palin.  In that case, everybody would be in agreement.

DON’T DEMONIZE THE OTHER GUY IF HE’S LIKABLE, BECAUSE THAT SAYS MORE ABOUT YOURSELF THAN HIM !

Much has been made about McCain not being able to look at Obama throughout the entire debate.  Now, while nobody can look into anybody’s soul, there can be two simple explanations for that.  1.  Some people who demonize others can only do so without looking at that person.  2.  It’s a sign of feeling inferior to the other person.  In reference to the second point, I read something very interesting from somebody who has studied behavior in monkeys (I’m not making this up).  According to him, lower ranking monkeys avoid eye contact with higher ranking, superior monkeys.  I thought that was an interesting little fact.  

Bottom line is this:  Watch a clip of an exchange between those two with the volume down and just look at demeanor and body language.  You don’t have to be an expert in that field to see that we will be making history big time this year with

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA !