Friday, October 10, 2008
Debate Number 2
I stayed up late the watch the second presidential debate. First I will make a couple observations: Both walked around, but McCain's seemed very calculated. It was three steps, stop, three steps, stop, three steps... you get the point. It was almost like he couldn't walk and talk at the same time. Obama would walk and stay in one spot, directing his answer mainly to the person who asked it, but McCain addressed his answer to the whole crowd. During McCain's questions, Obama sat listening, seated in the awkward chairs they provided for them. During Obama's questions, McCain was standing, moving around, walking and what seemed to me like talking to someone in the crowd at some points in time. It was to be honest, very distracting. Both went over their one minute time limit - but the one time McCain kept it under one minutes, he felt the need to point it out to everyone. He also made what I felt were childish comments throughout the night, whether they were applauding himself for staying within the time limit or using phrases like "that one" to refer to Obama. I'm not sure if these were attempts at jokes or laughs, but they failed miserably. I felt they just made him look immature. Obama as well cut in after questions and asked more than once if he could respond to questions McCain answered. He knew it was against the rules, but still felt the need to make a rebuttal. McCain at times completely talked over the mediator, which to me was just rude, and Obama at one point made the statement that he had to correct McCain "not surprisingly". All in all I thought it was a complete dog show and both parties made mistakes in the etiquette arena. Don't get me wrong, I listened intently to answers and their takes on issues, but these are the things that I pick up on during any sort of conversation. Maybe this is because of my psychology background, or just my extreme dislike for disrespect and childish behavior. Whatever the case, I think that these mistakes and actions were annoying to the rest of the United States and maybe made more than a few people very upset that they were so focused on putting one another down rather than building themselves up.
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2 comments:
I was very disappointed with the second debate. I was eager to see how the "town hall" format would play out and feel that neither candidate did an adequate job of addressing the individuals there. McCain did refer to a few of them by their first names, but I felt that the entire night was rather unsuccessful. I did not feel that either was especially persuasive. I was distracted by numerous things, (like you said, McCain walking around) and all of the timing nonsense. It seemed poorly structured and I just hope the next one goes more smooth!
I also agree that the debate was poorly structured. I was looking forward to hearing about the candidates' issues and how they would turn around the economy. Instead I became frsutrated by the bickering and focus on not satying within the time limits. Although I liked the style of the debate (where questions were taken from the audience), it wasn't executed as it should have been.
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