Body Language

[oreo]

Who won the presidential debate? * 329475 responses MSNBC

John McCain
35%

Barack Obama
51%

Tie
6.3%

You want to see a knockout

Fox News---

McCain 86%

Obama 16%

60,000 votes so far & counting!

 

[random3434]

You want to see a knockout

Fox News---

McCain 86%

Obama 16%

60,000 votes so far & counting!

Shocking! I would never guess numbers like that from FOX NEWS!

 

[glockmail]

McCain never looked Obama in the eye. Never even turned his head toward him.

Why?

Don't interrupt a fool when he's talking.

 

[Tristan]

Who won the presidential debate? * 329475 responses MSNBC

John McCain
35%

Barack Obama
51%

Tie
6.3%

Wow. Drudge has an equaly meanigless poll with McCain up by more than 2 to 1. (67% McCain to 31% Obama)
DRUDGE REPORT 2008®

Means nothing of course.

 

[random3434]

Wow. Drudge has an equaly meanigless poll with McCain up by more than 2 to 1. (67% McCain to 31% Obama)
DRUDGE REPORT 2008®

Means nothing of course.

Well duh. Like I said somewhere else in the million threads on here, nobody's mind is going to be changed after tonight but the undecided/independent voters.

Nothing means anything until November 4th Poll wise.....


But people like polls, don't they?

 

[jreeves]

Well duh. Like I said somewhere else in the million threads on here, nobody's mind is going to be changed after tonight but the undecided/independent voters.

Nothing means anything until November 4th Poll wise.....


But people like polls, don't they?

I have to agree with you on this one....

Polls are highly unreliable.

 

[frazzledgear]

McCain never looked Obama in the eye. Never even turned his head toward him.

Why?

He can't turn his head very far in either direction without having to turn his entire body due to previous surgery and the underlying scar tissue that has no "give". It is more effective to look staight into the camera when answering rather than worry about watching your opponent when he is speaking. Both candidates often used the time to jot notes about responses they wanted to make to what was being said anyway. Which is perfectly proper.

I don't really care if they are watching the other guy while he is speaking -the real audience for the candidate speaking isn't the other candidate anyway - it is the live audience and TV viewers. I think it is less important for either candidate to actually be watching the other one while they speak than keeping their own facial expressions under check while the other guy is talking. The camera showed Obama was too often smirking or with expressions of frustration and irritation or worse, muttering "not true, not true" while McCain was talking. And his bad habit of interrupting McCain and trying to overtalk him was annoying and disrespectful. McCain never interrupted Obama -he let him finish before responding. But he also never let Obama force him to stop speaking with his interruptions -and shouldn't have either. McCain at one point even said it was his turn to speak trying to get Obama to stop trying to talk over him. Finally Lehrer had to ask him to stop doing that.

Guess Obama hasn't been Senator long enough to even be trained in Senate rules that allow no one to interrupt whoever has the floor -much less realize these are identical to debate rules that forbid interrupting your opponent and must wait your turn.

 

[Ninja]

Shocking! I would never guess numbers like that from FOX NEWS!

Says the guy who posts an online poll from MSNBC.

Look, with the online polls it comes down to where they get linked to first - FR or DU.

 

[HoleInTheVoid]

McCain never looked Obama in the eye. Never even turned his head toward him.

Why?

Obama had a dangler and McCain was trying not to bring attention to it?

 

[frazzledgear]

Who won the presidential debate? * 329475 responses MSNBC

John McCain
35%

Barack Obama
51%

Tie
6.3%

Considering this was an MSNBC poll, that result should shock you and be a real clue. A Rasmussen poll among MSNBC viewers shows that 63% of them said they intended to vote for Obama and only 30% intended to vote for McCain. Yet only 51% thought Obama won and 35% thought McCain won? Hmm. People who already know who they are going to vote for -are far more likely to see that candidate as the winner in the debate anyway.

I'd like a poll asking viewers who watched the debate if they can remember anything of real substance Obama talked about in this debate. The guy is undeniably charismatic and smooth. But I saw Obama relying on his same old campaign rhetoric for way too much of the debate. A debate is the time for detailed specifics about their intentions and policies of where they want to take the country and most importantly, the HOW. I got the WHERE Obama wants to take it, same place every politician says they want to take it. But he missed out on giving us the HOW.

At first I saw this as a tie because no one made any gaffes or major mistakes -until I tried to think back on what each of the candidates actually talked about. I'm left feeling kind of empty with what I actually got from Obama. Lots of words that in the end, said so very little. Keep hearing people talk about what a wonderful gifted speaker he is and his soaring rhetoric etc. But can anyone recall a single sentence from his acceptance speech at his convention that was a remarkable moment? It was the same old tired hack Democrats always roll out. How about from his speech in Germany then - any single sentence from that which is a "statement of the ages" kind of thing? I can't remember a darn thing of note or of any real substance this guy has ever said. More and more he appears to be a balloon -full of nothing.

 

[frazzledgear]

Shocking! I would never guess numbers like that from FOX NEWS!

You should be shocked. That same Pew poll I mentioned above shows that 39% of Fox viewers are Republicans and 33% are Democrats. Republicans are slightly overrepresented and Democrats slightly underrepresented - but nowhere NEAR the level as it exists with MSNBC viewers where Democrats are significantly overrepresented and Republicans pathetically represented.

MSNBC isn't a news channel anyone watches who expects unbiased reporting -mainly because MSNBC doesn't even pretend to be. Their audience is one of the most heavily liberal leaning with liberals way overrepresented beyond their numbers in the general public - and MSNBC caters to them. It was a deliberate managerial decision to do so. If you are looking to get your own liberal views validated while making sure you don't "have" to hear anything from any other point of view or at least not without watching interviewers blatantly kissing Democrat ass -you got the right channel for you then. Just not sure I'd bother calling it news instead of an outreach Obama campaign rally though.

 

[LeftOfTheMiddle]

IF you ask me, none of these polls mean anything. They are all biased. Fox is about as far right as a mainstream networks get and MSNBC is pretty far left. Neither one means anything.

As far as McCain not looking Obama in the eye...pure arrogance! He was so condescending and dismissive towards his opponent tonight. I am really interested in seeing if he continues that behavior in the next debate. He behavior and responses tonight proved to me tonight that he truly is a wealthy, elitist, big-business conservative who sees himself as better than Obama and will continue to do what Republican have done for far too long now - take care of those that they deem worthy based on class and status.

 

[Elyk88]

IF you ask me, none of these polls mean anything. They are all biased. Fox is about as far right as a mainstream networks get and MSNBC is pretty far left. Neither one means anything.

As far as McCain not looking Obama in the eye...pure arrogance! He was so condescending and dismissive towards his opponent tonight. I am really interested in seeing if he continues that behavior in the next debate. He behavior and responses tonight proved to me tonight that he truly is a wealthy, elitist, big-business conservative who sees himself as better than Obama and will continue to do what Republican have done for far too long now - take care of those that they deem worthy based on class and status.

I see your point however from an undecided point of view it 'could' also be viewed as McCain was more interested in talking to the American people rather than getting in a staring contest with Obama.


It 'could' also be seen as Obama trying to be intimidating and confronting but only looking foolish..

I think if McCain 'had' looked at Obama it 'could' have been better for Obama..

kind of like a

Obama: Look at me!?!
McCain: Yessum...

yeah right...he woulda just been giving into Obama..

 

[Julian.D]

One might also ask why McCain didn't actually address any of Obama's criticisms towards his economic policies. McCain is afraid of Obama. There is no way he couldn't be, what with his campaign looking like a joke in comparison. Obama is the most famous person in the world right now, and McCain probably hardly understands why.

 

[LeftOfTheMiddle]

I see your point however from an undecided point of view it 'could' also be viewed as McCain was more interested in talking to the American people rather than getting in a staring contest with Obama.


It 'could' also be seen as Obama trying to be intimidating and confronting but only looking foolish..

I think if McCain 'had' looked at Obama it 'could' have been better for Obama..

kind of like a

Obama: Look at me!?!
McCain: Yessum...

yeah right...he woulda just been giving into Obama..

Or maybe he would have been showing him the same respect that the rest of us show each other in everyday conversation - look at him when you speak to him or when he is addressing you. Would you speak of someone in the third person is they had just spoken directly to you in your everyday life? Probably not. So why do you excuse Senator McCain for doing it?

While I am a proud Obama supporter, I have a lot of respect and admiration for McCain. However, he lost points with me tonight. I still say that it came across as pure arrogance.

 

[Elyk88]

One might also ask why McCain didn't actually address any of Obama's criticisms towards his economic policies. McCain is afraid of Obama. There is no way he couldn't be, what with his campaign looking like a joke in comparison. Obama is the most famous person in the world right now, and McCain probably hardly understands why.

McCain wasn't the one interrupting Obama every other second with

"wahhh!!..that's not true...john..that's not true...no way"

or

smirk smirk the economy smirk...

Obama had to raise his voice to talk over McCain..
he seemed like the agitated one.


"Obama is the most famous person in the world right now, and McCain probably hardly understands why"

it's because his soothing voice makes for a nice speech..

Hilary had him on experience and policies...he is motivational..that's why he is so popular..not because he's qualified to be president.

 

[Elyk88]

Or maybe he would have been showing him the same respect that the rest of us show each other in everyday conversation - look at him when you speak to him or when he is addressing you. Would you speak of someone in the third person is they had just spoken directly to you in your everyday life? Probably not. So why do you excuse Senator McCain for doing it?

While I am a proud Obama supporter, I have a lot of respect and admiration for McCain. However, he lost points with me tonight. I still say that it came across as pure arrogance.

Yes I see your point about the respect part..however it should be equally noted Obama contantly was interrupting with little remarks like "that's not true" .../waves pen at moderator for time to counter... "not true at all john.."

 

[LeftOfTheMiddle]

Yes I see your point about the respect part..however it should be equally noted Obama contantly was interrupting with little remarks like "that's not true" .../waves pen at moderator for time to counter... "not true at all john.."

Point taken. Though, at the risk of excusing what was also rude behavior, I must admit that if I were in Obama's shoes and felt that what was being said by McCain was not true, I probably would have done the same.

 

[Julian.D]

McCain wasn't the one interrupting Obama every other second with

"wahhh!!..that's not true...john..that's not true...no way"

or

smirk smirk the economy smirk...

Obama had to raise his voice to talk over McCain..
he seemed like the agitated one.


"Obama is the most famous person in the world right now, and McCain probably hardly understands why"

it's because his soothing voice makes for a nice speech..

Hilary had him on experience and policies...he is motivational..that's why he is so popular..not because he's qualified to be president.

Oh, and McCain didn't interrupt the actual proctor of the debate to put in his little comments about being a Prisoner of War and whining about veterans?

I'm pretty sure Obama has the right to interrupt when McCain is saying things that aren't true about Obama's own personal opinion. In fact, McCain was really foolish to try to determine so many other people's opinions, such as General Petreus. He literally said "This is exactly what he would think of what you're saying."

And Obama hardly raised his voice. McCain was being childish by slipping in pointless arguments at the end of a lead discussion anyways.

And Obama's fame goes so far beyond his ability to speak well. I don't know, it might have to do with what he's actually saying.

 

[Elyk88]

Point taken. Though, at the risk of excusing what was also rude behavior, I must admit that if I were in Obama's shoes and felt that what was being said by McCain was not true, I probably would have done the same.

I would have done the same in the sense of explaining why said statement was not true in my opinion..

which for the most part he did.

I just wouldn't have been like the smart kid in class that the teacher hates but really really wants to answer the question yelling "me me I know the answer let me speak"