The Real Reason Obama Won the Debate

[Solomon]

It's all psychological. McCain tried to derail the debate. Obama, in a no nonsense fashion, wouldn't let him, and in effect, forced McCain to do something he didn't want to do. If Obama can order the best that they have to offer around like that, then he has clearly passed the "Commander-in-Chief" test. He stared down McCain and McCain backed down.

I think this is what has doomed McCain's campaign. Put the nail in the coffin. Nobody is talking about it, but it's the kind of thing that everybody feels.

Secondly, McCain is showing a penchant for calling things off when the going gets tough. They kind of called off the Convention when things weren't going well, and then he tried to call off the debate.

Again, this is psychological stuff that burns underneath the surface. Trying to call stuff off when things get tough is not very presidential at all.

On the other hand, look at all the things Obama has had to overcome, not the least of which was the constant Reverend Wright haranguing. Obama keeps pushing on, does what he has to do. Very presidential.

There is nothing that McCain can do to overcome his failure to be strong.

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. I completely agree that the debate was a monumental low key victory for Obama

Political scientists and rhetoricians will study the debate for years. It was like the magician who never comes near you, but somehow manages to have your watch. Obama had a strategy, and he defeated McCain soundly, but quietly. Just about perfect.

[TornadoTN]

2. I think anyone that watched - agenda or not - if they are honest, would agree

There's no doubt that Obama commanded the debate with authority. He controlled the tempo and the message. He countered any perceived upper-hand that McCain thought he had with regards to foreign affairs and plainly laid out the differences between the two. Even when he acknowledged some agreement with McCain on a basic principle of an issue, he would illustrate in no uncertain terms how he differed in his approach and the final result.

I have never seen a person, politician or not, that has such a grasp on the English language and can enunciate his vision on the fly as well as Obama can. I know I'm biased, but I've been talking to some "plain folks" that I encounter on a daily basis and they have indicated the same thing and much more. Obama inspires people - even those that are unsure about him or might have leaned right in the past.

[medicswife]

3. You're right. Great post and great analysis.

People may not even realize just why they ended up feeling that Obama is more presidential after all, but the dynamic that played out clearly showed Obama to be the stronger of the two.

[Essene]

4. Yep. Stay serious. Stay focused on big issues. Stay on message. Ignore the McTalking Points

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. The real reason Obama won: primate psychology.

All in the body language. Obama was relaxed, calm, confident, engaged, open, and magnanimous toward McCain; McCain, in contrast, was tense, clenched, irritable, and wouldn't meet Obama's gaze, wouldn't look him in the eye, wouldn't address him, would hardly acknowledge him.

I've seen several people who first heard the debate on the radio say they thought McCain won, but reverse that opinion after seeing the video of the debate; in this sense it's comparable to Kennedy/Nixon in 1960, where Nixon looked shifty-eyed and nervous and unshaven (there was the same difference of opinion on the winner between the radio and television audiences in THAT debate, too).

Humans are social primates; we are hardwired, thanks to the evolutionary development of our species, to pick up on social cues suck as body language, posture, gaze avoidance, and so on, and the difference in perceptions of body language between McCain and Obama is probably the single largest factor in Obama's winning the debate.

[Demi_Babe]

6. totally agree with you 100%