What Obama needs to be careful about in the debate:

[pnwmom]

the media will heavily critique his body language, just as they did with Al Gore.

Remember how much better Al Gore was in that debate with Bush? But the next day, all the media could talk about was his eye-rolling, his sighs, and his "wooden" posture. The fact that Gore was making SENSE and Bush wasn't didn't matter. Bush was declared the winner of the debate.

I hope Obama's getting some good training in body language from people who know more about this than I do.

[HughMoran]

1. He's been good about not appearing condescending or over-confident in the past

I think his debates with Hillary were the best preparation a candidate could ever have. If he could resist her attempts to knock him off stride, it should be a piece of cake with McSlow up there. He just has to not underestimate McP*W.

[holiday]

3. I thought Obama did wonderful with Matt Lauer he was very

strong and sure of himself and defended himself very well with Lauer. So I agree, he knows how to do it

[HughMoran]

11. Didn't see it, but that's good to hear

I have the utmost confidence in him - he's the better man by far in this election.

[pnwmom]

4. In general, yes, but the media got a number of shots of him

appearing to look down his nose at her (his head drawn back a bit, and his chin up).

And since then the McCain campaign has also been picking shots of Obama taken from underneath, so that he appears to be looking down on the viewer.

[HughMoran]

7. Surely McP*W will be held to a lower standard and Obama will have to be careful

The media will try to be fair to both sides by keeping expectations low for McP*W. Obama must realize this (how can he not know this) and has to "appear" to be respectful of McP*W. Of course, if McP*W dares to throw out one of his hateful lies, then THROW DOWN THE GAUNTLET - NO MERCY! So, McP*W has to be careful of his "temperment" too :D

[holiday]

2. I agree. Even though I understand Obama when he talks

it's sometimes over the heads of the stupid people. You know McCain is not going to be over stupid people's heads, he can barely form sentences.

I remember reading somewhere, that Bill Clinton had a way of tearing down his opponent with a smile on his face. So he never came off as "too hard" on them or "mean". He did it in a very relaxed way and with a smile on his face. I think that would work for Obama for people to see him more casual, relaxed and smiling. Obama has an AMAZING smile! Very good looking man, ESPECIALLY when standing next to McCain

[southpaw]

5. I agree, O needs to be very conscious of his body language

as well as facial expressions and vocalizations.

IMO, there is little doubt that he can trounce McSlime on every issue, so media outlets that are desirous of painting the debates as a win for McSludge will look for any and all means by which to do it.

Obama should not hand them any ammunition or this will be just like the Gore/Bush debate coverage referred to in the OP.

[nc4bo]

8. I've been hearing so much on stupid CorpMedia about how weak Obama is

in debates - blah blah blah.

Truthfully, I like it. Keep talking isht, diminish the Great Orator well and good all week if they want to.

I think Obama will do fine, no really I do. He's smart and flexible, nothing like McDiaper.

[holiday]

27. lol, I've seen so many variantions of McCain.. I'm liking McDiaper

[hisownpetard]

6. The voters who have not been involved until now (i,e, the antithesis of us) are not looking for

long explanations about policy and theory. I think they want short answers that are strong and to the point,
so they can say, "I'm gonna vote for that guy," and go back to whatever they were doing.

I think Obama needs to edit down his answers (or at least some of them) to deal with the short attention span of these mostly uninvolved voters.

[HughMoran]

9. I WILL CUT YOUR TAXES - MCP*W IS BEING DECEPTIVE (lying)

He needs to drive home the point that McP*W has been LYING about Obama raising "your" taxes.

Shove it down his hateful throat.

[hisownpetard]

10. Definitely!

[SoonerPride]

14. Like Lois on Family Guy?

9




11




:)

[southpaw]

21. Like Brian said

"Undecided voters are the biggest idiots on the planet."

But the 9... 11... gambit didn't play so well for Ghouliani, did it?

[SoonerPride]

23. Not this time. Thank goodness.

But never underestimate how dumb Americans are.

[pnwmom]

16. I hope and expect that he learned something from his experience

in that religious non-debate (I forget the name of that), where McCain was generally deemed to be the winner because of his pithier answers.

[southpaw]

17. Agreed!

These debates are primarily going to influence the undecided voters.

Those of us who are involved enough to consider lengthy, nuanced explanations already know who we are voting for, and it isn't likely that the debates are going to change that.

Obama needs to be fully aware - as I'm sure he is - that the people who stand to be swayed by the debates are overwhelmingly going to be most influenced by clear, concise, easy to understand statements delivered with bold certainty.

In these unsure times, a candidate's strongest asset is confidence!

[zbdent]

12. What Obama needs to be careful about in the debate:

Making a joke
Being too serious

Speaking too well
Too many pauses and "uhs"

Looking unprofessional
Looking too manicured

Providing too many details
Providing too few details

Mentioning his family
Not mentioning his family

Complimenting his opponent
Not recognizing his opponent's accomplishments

need I say more?

[blondeatlast]

18. Being himself/not being "presidential," being stiff/being animated;

dressing too well/dressing poorly--ad infinitum.

You've got it!

[nyc 4 Biden]

25. BINGO!!!

There will be criticism either way.

Just like with the election Obama needs to destroy McCain so badly and so obviously just to overcome the obstacles i.e. MSM.

[zbdent]

35. the Limbaugh types will spin that as the "Affirmative Action" effect ... that the people were just

voting for him because he was "black" ...

Of course, if celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger was not in the race, would Gray Davis have been forced out?

[elkston]

13. Obama has always had a very relaxed, and inviting kind of posture (eom)

[pnwmom]

20. And yet

there were quite a number of MSM shots of him in the debates with HRC, where he appeared to be leaning back, looking down his nose at her. And the McCain campaign has been heavily featuring shots of him taken from underneath.

[elkston]

22. So I guess you're buying that he is elitist. Hmmmm. (eom)

[pnwmom]

24. Not at all. But I am aware that McCain is using that argument and that the media

loves to talk about body language. So Obama needs to be more skillful with his than Gore was in 2000.

This is what Obama should be guarding against -- shots like:

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2008/01/obama_subjects.html

[Lancer]

15. The format of Friday's debate has them standing for 90 minutes

I would think that's a plus for Obama, plus the minute he puts on a suit he looks Presidential. He's going to take this seriously and probably look at previous debates to see what gestures, postures, etc. work and which don't on TV. I think McCain's stamina and concentration are going to fade over that 90 minutes. Just my opinion.

The second debate, moderated by Brokaw (October 15?) is town hall style, with them perching on stools and roaming around. Obama is a natural in that forum. I think McCain does better in that setting, although not as well as he thinks. Without a script or a Prompter he's going to have to come up with answers on his own (unless he's wired with a remote control like * in the second and third debates in 2004.)

[garymeeg]

28. I agree, Obama's well trained and won't turn red after 70 minutes

Yep, it's definitely a plus for Obama. He'll sweat less than McCain:-)

[scheming daemons]

19. In 2000, we had peace and prosperity.... so the media focused on "minutae".... not this time.

If this were 2000, Biden's gaffe yesterday about FDR "going on TV" would be the only story in the news.


Times are too dire for the media to be focusing on crap like that this time. Remember.... all the media have 401K plans too...

[Alter Ego]

26. Kerry managed to pull it off and his body language is a lot less relaxed.

Obama's never had a problem with it--that's the least of my worries.

[holiday]

29. How many think that Obama will do way better than McCain so

after the debates McCain camp will pick something to throw a big fit on for spin (kinda like the lipstick on a pig)... They will POUNCE on something really small, because they will be even more desperate

[Alter Ego]

31. It's his slight stutter that needs fixing--it makes him seem unsure.

When he gets rolling, he's amazing--but his motor takes a bit to warm up.

[pnwmom]

36. Which is basically what happened to Gore. n/t

[LynneSin]

30. Biden gave an amazing speech in Michigan and all the press could talk about was his french cufflinks

If it's not one thing to nitpick on it'll be something else.

When Democrats do really well and are in command of what they talk/debate about then we have to find something trivial to knock 'em down.

[renate]

32. I do think he should smile more in general

Rachel or Keith showed clips of him last night, meeting people in a restaurant or someplace, and even when he was shaking people's hands he wasn't smiling. If I'd been looking forward to meeting him and finally got to, and didn't get a smile, my feelings would be hurt. Silly but true. For some reason we expect people to be roughly as happy to meet us as we are to meet them, and it feels like a social contract has been broken when they aren't.

He has a great smile--he ought to use it more. Not necessarily during the debates, which are serious, but in more personal situations or when waving to crowds, etc.

[Clio the Leo]

33. Dont worry, he's got body language locked.......

..... I rely on reading body language in my job so I always pay attention to that.

Barack is just a natural ......... he is ....... but he's very conscious of it as well. It's always clear watching him, whether it's while giving a speech or an interview that's paying attention to how he looks (and that's a good thing, not a slam.)

John McCain ......... not so much. I am patiently awaiting the first appearance of "the scared face" ...... which I believe we will see many times during the night.

[nc4bo]

34. Obama keeps on a good poker face. Mccain, well you can tell he enjoys playing craps. nt