WP, Eugene Robinson: Did John McCain come across as too much of a grumpy old man?

[DeepModem Mom]

The Debate: The All-Important Grumpiness Factor

Here’s the politically incorrect way of phrasing one of the central questions about (Friday's) presidential debate: Did John McCain come across as too much of a grumpy old man?

That might not be a nice question, but it’s an important one. Americans like to vote for the nice guy, not the grumbling prophet of doom. Throughout the 90-minute debate, McCain seemed contemptuous of Obama. He wouldn’t look at him. He tried to belittle him whenever possible -- how many times did he work “Senator Obama just doesn’t understand” into his answers? His body language was closed, defensive, tense. McCain certainly succeeded in proving that he can be aggressive, but the aggression came with a smirk and a sneer.

In terms of substance, there were no knockout blows. (I hate using the prizefight metaphor, which is the oldest cliché in the world, but unfortunately it’s the only metaphor approved for journalistic use in connection with a presidential debate. I don’t write the rules.) Both candidates got in numerous good lines and a couple of real zingers. McCain managed to cross the dangerous terrain of economic policy without suffering grievous harm, and Obama managed to surmount the foreign-policy toughness threshold. Voters who were leaning toward one or the other but wanted reassurance probably found it.

But we in the commentariat tend to forget that the electorate always, and I mean always, sees a presidential debate very differently from the way we see it. If you read the papers in the fall of 2000, for example, you learned that Al Gore wiped the floor with George Bush in their encounters -- but voters thought otherwise. Demeanor and body language have been important in every debate I can think of, so I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be important in this one. The candidate who projects affability and optimism is usually seen to have bettered the candidate who projects resentment and gloom. If that is the case with tonight’s debate, Obama won and McCain lost.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/the_debate_the_all-important_g.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Bake]

1. Robinson's right again (as usual).

Nails it.

Bake

[bkinsd]

12. You Nailed It

Eugene Robinson - for my money - is one of the finest writers of political commentary in our country today.

[livetohike]

2. Thanks for posting this

I have guests for the weekend. We watched the debate and were talking about everything right through all of the comments from last night's shows.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

3. Troll

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. McCain is his own worst enemy

The tactic of avoiding eye contact, the guffaws at Obama when he made a good point, the repeated statements that Obama didn't understand something when it was apparent he did...were distractions from what McCain was saying. McCain's hunched over body language and apparent contempt for Obama drew the audience's attention away from the content of his points. When you spend time asking yourself 'will he finally make eye contact?' you're not listening as carefully to the words.

It's the self-confident, serene candidate making his points without effort whose statements will have the most impact on the listener. Mccain's tactics show a lack of self-confidence and the audience is going to feel that and focus on that.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Very well said. nt

[Kalyke]

10. Speaking of the guffaws...

Has the media gone on and on about that like they did when Gore sighed after Bush made a stupid statement?

At least the guffaw-provoking statements Obama made were poignant. Bush was as ignorant then as he is now.

[Glenda]

11. I like your bumper sticker

:spray:

[Overseas]

6. I thought JSM III was indeed very Get-Off-My-Lawn

with a heavy dose of Country Club scorn and derision thrown in.

Even Senators who haven't been nominated as congenial show a lot more customary courtesy than Johnny did last night. They usually "Right Honorable Gentleman" each other all over the place.

And John Sidney McCain III, with $520 loafers, too many homes to count and a fleet of vehicles, couldn't even bring himself to favor the Presidential Candidate of millions of Democratic voters with a mere glance. I guess since the Obamas don't have $5 million yet, they aren't rich according to JSM III, and thus unworthy of his attention. The scornful aspect of McLame's crabbiness was in keeping with the RNC motto, Country Club First.


The other aspect of the crabbiness is the aging brain stuff. After years of chronic stress, the brain gets tired and can't keep up with the younger whipper snappers and it makes the person angry. I think Johnny was feeling some of that, too. Obama had his facts ready to roll in response to every question and every lie Johnny wanted to tell. That seemed to make Johnny very mad. I've seen some friends get more crabby with advancing age as the brain can't process input as quickly as it once did. They'll get mad at me for talking too fast when I'm just enthusiastic at a pace my younger friends don't mind at all. I hope I can keep learning new things and resist the crabbiness as I get older.

[sonias]

7. No country for grumpy old men - to be president

We need fresh ideas like Obama's to secure our future.


Sonia

[ProgressiveEconomist]

8. K&R; especially liked the Al Gore reference. If McCain's neck-bulging snarls don't now get

the same attention as Gore's sighs in Y2K, then eight years of Dubya's misrule must have changed human nature.

[wildflowergardener]

9. Saturday Night Live

I'll be curious to see what Saturday Night Live makes of this - you know what they did to Gore's sigh.

Meg

[ihavenobias]

13. K & R (Yes, he did)