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Here's Looking Away from You, Kid
It's 30 minutes into the debate and I haven't seen McCain look at Obama once. Obama addresses McCain. While McCain speaks, he watches him. He acknowledges his opponent's existence. His manner reflects his nature--he doesn't talk about reciprocity, he exhibits it. McCain refuses to reciprocate. To him, his opponent is a nonentity. Call it fear, call it contempt, call it smugness, call it anxiety--I'm not sure what to call it. But for sure it's downright peculiar.
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Absolutely right. I think it's self hero-worship. Did the same thing to Romney.
September 26, 2008 9:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Call it fear, call it contempt, call it smugness, call it anxiety--I'm not sure what to call it.
Feel free to call it by what I do:
Sociopathy
And now McInsane is describing his framework for re-starting the Cold War.
Baud help us if this insane old man and his dithering puppet manage to dupe their way into office.
September 26, 2008 10:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting - you don't pick that up listening to it.
Listening to it, I think they're both terrible. Kerry or Bush could run circles around either of these dopes.
If McCain isn't even acknowledging Obama then Obama ought to turn that on him in the town halls. Obama is a terrible debater, too many missed opportunities. He has a lot of work to do for the next two.
September 26, 2008 10:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Narcissism + racism = can't look at Obama.
September 26, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Naw...Obama's The Invisible Negro. It's the "ignore the busboy at the country club" look.
September 26, 2008 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's because McShame is unhinged. And I think he's afraid that if he looks at Obama, he might lose his temper and show the world how batshit crazy he really is.
September 26, 2008 10:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why can't McCain look Obama in the eyes?
In addition to the possibilty of a tripped switch, that's the surefire tell of the weaker protagonist.
September 26, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, it occurs to me that, while I don't have much of a temper, when I do get angry at someone, I don't want to look them in the eyes either. So perhaps this is how McShame's temper is evidencing itself.
September 26, 2008 11:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The server's acting up again!
September 26, 2008 11:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Goldspinner, you have it about right. It's "this negro isn't worth my acknowledgement, I'm and entitled old white guy".
And the effing server is acting up.
McCain won, in my opinion. Maybe I had higher expectations for Obama than I should have. Maybe I had lower expectations for McCain. But I think the average view will see McCain as more confident, in command, and the winner of tonight's debate.
Obama needs to stage a come-back in the next round.
-- ARG
September 26, 2008 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
It wasn't really that long ago that "McCain's Navy" consisted of white officers served by stewards 'of color', whether black or Filipino.
September 26, 2008 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's failure to even acknowledge Obama's existence was that of the wise elder, obviously superior candidate, who wouldn't give the time of day to the young, inexperience upstart. I think it may have helped McCain. And, I expect McCain to get a bounce in the polls from the debate.
Fortunately, we can count on McCain to make many serious mistakes before we get to vote, and those may turn this back around. If not....get ready for President Palin.
September 26, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
What came across throughout the debate is that McCain really dislikes Obama. Whether that is real or whether that is just the impression he wanted to convey, I don't know. Obama, on the other hand, continues to be super nice - too nice by half. As McCain went over and over and over his one-note refrain on Iraq, I kept waiting for Obama to interrupt him - as Lehrer was pressing them to do - and ask, "So you want to stay for 100 years? Or 50 years?" McCain could have easily been flustered by challenges of that kind, but Obama was too much of a gentleman. Dan Bartlett pointed out afterwards that Obama had said he agreed with McCain eight times - something a rational, intelligent man would do (my verdict, not Bartlett's). McCain couldn't, or wouldn't, seek any common ground.
September 26, 2008 11:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
"To him, his opponent is a nonentity. Call it fear, call it contempt, call it smugness, call it anxiety--I'm not sure what to call it. But for sure it's downright peculiar."
John McCain's eyes and body language just dripped with contempt and he was exactly as you describe!
I kept finding myself asking "Do I REALLY want this man sitting and talking across any table with ANY World Leader??" The answer is NO!!!!!
Really creeped me out thinking how much further damage our reputation would endure under a McCain "Regime".
Did you notice? He never did answer the question about if he thinks our country's reputation has diminished significantly since our war in Iraq? That was a big tell for me too. Frankly, I think he holds the whole rest of the world in contempt too.
September 26, 2008 11:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think we can concede that Obama didn't win this, but debates are overrated and especially the first of the debates
This was McCain's last chance, after the convention, to make an impact on the race.
GOOD. This can be an Obama tactic during the town hall.. take a question from the audience, give a sensible answer, and then oh-so-casually sidle over to McCain, get really close to him, draw him innocently into the conversation in a spirit of bipartisanship, look him in the eye, and watch the old food squirm. C'mon Obama, you can do this!
Another Obama tactic I'd like to see: "What John McCain doesn't understand about the economy is..."
That McCain blowup/meltdown that we are all half-expecting may happen yet
September 26, 2008 11:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
It worked though, didn't it? It unnerves us all, and perhaps Obama as well.
I have no idea why Obama conceded the debate on so many crucial points - do they both believe seriously that after 5 yrs in Iraq, Americans have the appetite to get into a hot war with Russia over Georgia????
September 26, 2008 11:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
People who are lying to you and about you can't look you in the eye.
September 27, 2008 12:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Expect ads to air with snippets of Obama's repeated prefacing statements of how he agreed with McCain on certain issues. This isn't a debate on the Senate floor and Obama needs to be forceful, not genteel in countering McCain's fabrications. Obama needs to tailor his responses into soundbites that resonate with the public and the media. Skip the deference and keep McCain on the defensive!
September 27, 2008 12:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
I believe it was an intentional ploy aimed at provoking Obama, by dissing him and humiliating him, into a display of indignant "uppitiness". Obama didn't bite.
September 27, 2008 12:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
MG Obama faces a little adversity and its the end of the world. How about a little faith in your beliefs and abilities of your candidate. McCain didn't win anything. They had a debate. McCain behaved like a debutant elitist. He was merely projecting his faults onto Obama.
September 27, 2008 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's inability to look Obama in the eye does not signify that he's the alpha male in this exchange.
This failure is going viral as AN ISSUE.
September 27, 2008 1:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Did McCain say "so we will never torture prisoners again? I guess he admitted we torture prisoners. Of course, we all knew that anyway.
September 27, 2008 2:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone notice the twinkle in McCain's eyes when he mentioned.......his.....Soulmate!
September 27, 2008 2:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
During this campaign, face it, Obama has to play with the same rules Jackie Robinson used during his first two years with the Dodgers. Play the position, Hit, Steal Bases, all to the tune of racial slurs designed to distract -- and only in his third year could Jackie steal a Base and slide in with spikes up.
I hate watching all this play out all over again, Old enough to remember when Robinson joined the Dodger -- but as a Cleveland Indian fan, I watched it play out in 48 when Larry Doby and then Sachell Page were part of that World Championship team. The dynamics of this are very similar.
September 27, 2008 7:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think the reason McCain was so angry is that his campaign had a very bad week and McCain is constitutionally unable to blame himself for the serious faults HE made. HE picked Palin and she really exposed her weakness this week. HE decided to bring up Obama's connection to Raines vis a vis the financial crisis when he should have known that Rick Davis and the rest of HIS staff are up to their eyeballs in this stuff. HE decided to "suspend" his campaign, lie to Letterman and get outplayed by a cooler Obama.
His command of facts and use of them last night were actually OK, but his whisker-distance-from-tantrum demeanor was frightening.
September 27, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking as someone who was born and brought up in India and who has been intensely interested in politics, current affairs, world history, world culture, particularly the middle east and south central asia, I'd say no. McCain's ignorance and stubborn, incalcitrant idiocy frighten the pants off me.
He just does not have the background and life experience to allow him an understanding of different peoples, different cultures. He was brought up in the narrow society of rich America and a military hawk, and he just does not have the intellectual curiosity or empathy for other human beings and society in general to care very much.
And the sad thing is, he takes in all these conservative American males so easily, vowed by his former directness and talk of anti-corruption and fight against govt sleaze. He wouldn't know real sleaze if it knocked him over with a $700B dollar deficit....
September 27, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, meant to actually reply to the other post entitled "The consequences of defeat would have been increased Iranian influence." - here, in answer to the question "This man is supposed to be knowledgeable about the world?"
September 27, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink