Yesterday was my birthday so it wasn't exactly in my agenda to sit down last night and watch the debate. However, after searching the internet and browsing youtube for a while I was able to form some sort of mild opinion.
From what I've seen, I noticed that both Obama and McCain both had their strengths and weaknesses. They both had their share of topics in which they excelled in, as well as those in which their opponent was able to outdo them. However, my focus drifted more towards their body language and their mannerisms. If you notice, McCain seems to have some sort of difficulty with eye contact. In majority of his responses to Obama, and simply in speaking, his eyes rarely met Obama's or even looked in his direction. He seemed nervous and tense. Obama on the other hand seemed much more calm. He paid attention to McCain; looked in his direction. It just seemed odd.
Another point I noticed, was that McCain was eager to explain his experience. "I've met this world leader... traveled to this country...experience experience experience"...but was more hesitant to speak about the future and his position as a potential world leader. I just think Obama was more focused on making the public aware of what he wants to do, what he can do; his future and ours.
Reactions to the debate seem to be, for the most part, the same. "There is no clear winner" "Both candidates made excellent points" And while some stations seemed to be on the defense with what McCain could have done or with what Obama could of said, majority seemed to share the same perspective; neither candidate really delivered an "above-all" performance.
I agree with many of your points, I thought that both candidates handled the debate well, and were well spoken. As far as the eye contact, I don't find it that odd because for a lot of people public speaking is a difficut task, and some are better than others at it. However, it didn't bother me that McCain was't making eye contact, I thought his message was strong and to me his words were more powerful than his body language.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't too sure at the beginning of the week that there was even going to be a Presidential debate, because McCain wanted to cancel it to focus on our decinigrating economy. I thought this showed McCains dedication to his country and showed that when it came down to it he was more interested in the well being of this country than his political campaign. Maybe it was his military training, but I do believe that McCain would put America's well being before anything else.
I agree with many things Alyson talked about in her blog. I too took note of the body language throughout the debate. Also, I want to address the above comment about the debate almost being canceled because of McCain. Obama was ready to go to Washington to help push through the bailout process, but he thought it was more important than ever to debate the economic problems at issue.
ReplyDeleteAs for body language, Barack Obama was very calm and clear when he made his points. He constantly made eye contact with John McCain and with everyone when he spoke. McCain constantly looked down or at Jim Lehrer. He never made eye contact when he tried to knock Obama.
Also, McCain keeps talking about the past. I want to know about the future, what is he going to do for the future. I am not a political person, but recently I have been keeping up and this is going to be an interesting election!
I was surprised that many of you noticed at both debators body language and not so much the context of the debate. I believed Obama lacked of military experiences and others allows him to be more eager in delivering his messages with to the audiences. A person body language attracts more attention than the speech, especially when the audience doesn't know which side to agree with. And McCain seem to be more candid in his debates, speaking from his experience, and not focused on much of how to present what he will say with his body language. Both debators have different ways of showing how they care for the country.
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