Sunday's debate, despite the bizzare drama leading up to it, was widely described as a tie, as lacking a knockout punch, and free of surprises. Both candidates were themselves, or the candidates they want the people to think they are.
So why such little mention of the behavior of John McCain? Aren't debates mostly a chance to measure the the demeanor, bearing and cool-under-pressure of the candidates?
What the media, particularly the mainstream media, did not bring up much was how John McCain refused to make eye contact with his opponent (or in the case below, his opponent's wife).
Even when Obama directed his comments to Sen. McCain, he couldn't get even a glance in return.
And, in the analysis, it was the positions and how they contrast (information that has largely been available for a long time) that got all the attention.
An article on Politico sums up the analysis of the men on display. McCain succeeded in presenting himself as an "emphatic, impassioned, even indignant leader" and Obama was "cool and dispassionate".
Andrew Sullivan, writer for The Atlantic, picked it up in his blog, calling McCain's behavior a sign of insecurity.
An article on Newsweek's website, saying that McCain was the victor, mentions his "air of condescension that could turn off some undecideds". So maybe a real conversation about McCain's personality is beneath a sophisticated pundit, it's more for "undecideds" to worry about who else McCain may treat as beneath him and what that says about the man.
Chuck Todd, NBC's chief political director, pulls the same punch. He mentions McCain's "sometimes dismissive treatment of Obama" but his analysis stops at wondering how voters will react.
Some gave it more play, Chris Matthews picked it up immediately and discussed it a bit more. But who takes Chris Matthews seriously anymore? Then there was this from a reader of Talking Points Memo (Josh Marshall checked the reader's university bio, he is who he claims to be):
"I think people really are missing the point about McCain's failure to look at Obama. McCain was afraid of Obama. It was really clear--look at how much McCain blinked in the first half hour. I study monkey behavior--low ranking monkeys don't look at high ranking monkeys. In a physical, instinctive sense, Obama owned McCain tonight and I think the instant polling reflects that."
In defense of the rest, maybe it's a requirement of a news professional to focus on what was said (by the way, what about McCain's statement about freezing government spending for everything but the military and veterans or Obama's thoughts on escalating military activities in Pakistan? Those seem to be "newsy" yet didn't get much attention) as opposed to how it was said. And the reactions of voters to the debate as a whole are the news, I suppose.
I'm just glad I have a blog so I can talk about what I thought was most important.
By Alexandra Hinojosa
October 1, 2008 4:27 PM
You are right Matt, very little from the mainstream media was said regarding McCain's lack of eye contact. In fact when the L.A Times came out I don't recall any real mention of either one of the candidates behaviors, the only thing mentioned was what they differed in, in terms of their views on foreign policy.