Kerry needs to learn to look into the camera when he answers

[Dems Will Win]

in these podium debates. He's so polite, ha acted as though he were just trying to get Jim Lehrer's vote and not the 62.5 million people who were watching.

The ONLY time he really looked into the camera was his 2-minute closing statement! Imagine how more effective he would have been if he had looked into the camera!

This is Debate 101 and he forgot it. Hopefully someone in his campaign caught it in all the ruckus of him winning.

He also never said what his 4 point Iraq Plan really was, he said he had a 4-point plan and go to the Web. I sure hope he doesn't do that with Health Care or the Economy this week!

Also where are the personal stories with real names?? That always makes the candidate seem more human. No. The only real person name we heard was the war widow and Bush used it! m I sure hope he tells the stories and names of the people who came into Emergency Rooms and were told to go elsewhere for care and ended up dying because of it. Kerry had those stories in the primary and that's why he was able to connect and others weren't. Make it personal!

I know things can't be perfect but if we can get Kerry to do these three simple things, it will be damn close.

[Lefty48197]

1. I thought Kerry looked far more Presidential

than the pretender-in-chief.

[Dems Will Win]

4. There's no doubt about that.

I'm just saying he

did not tick off 1-2-3-4 his four point plan, feeling rushed by the time--but he could have gotten it in there.

he NEVER looked into the camera except the last two minutes

and he did not use a single real person name in the debate.

He can improve his game even more.

[Thurston Howell IV]

2. Not necessarily a big issue

I saw some 'expert' on the media on PBS last night who addressed this point when it was brought up as an possible advantage for Bush (he looked into the camera). She said Americans have watched so much television that they understand that Kerry was looking at Lehrer and it's not a big deal.

[liberalmuse]

3. Kerry has to be Kerry.

Bush was trying to be Clinton at the debate and it backfired bigtime. Clinton could call out statistics and numbers because you knew he wasn't coached to--he'd read them in his briefings and personally kept track of this information. Clinton could also tell personal stories because he is a people person and they were believable coming from him. Bush just sounded creepy and opportunistic using a dead soldiers family, especially his wife in order to try and highlight his 'compassion'.

Kerry will be looking at the camera more in the next debate, you can bet on that, but he needs to be exactly who he is and not try to appear Clintonesque.

[Dems Will Win]

8. I agree. I'm only asking him to swivel his head a little to the camera

and use a personal name and not say "you can got to JohnKerry.com and read my healthcare plan".

NO ONE is going to go to his Web site and read his healthcare plan. Americans are too lazy. Tell them what it is while you have their ear...

[kentuck]

5. I never noticed...

Hmmm-m-m-m-m.. Sometimes it looks "unnatural" looking into a camera at an invisible person, in my opinion.

[JI7]

9. right, if it looks unnatural then it's not a good thing, it's not the same

for everyone. kerry did what was best for him.

[Radio-Active]

6. I was yelling at the TV for him to look at the camera,

but I was really relieved when he did it on his closing statement. It almost made up for it. This was Kerry's introduction, and it may have been part of the strategy to not look into the camera until the end. I'm sure in the next two debates he will look into the camera more often.

I think Kerry really did well with examples that people can understand:

"outsourcing Bin Laden's capture"
"invading Mexico for Pearl Harbor"
"the Pottery Barn principle"

[JI7]

7. nope, he should do as he was doing , Lieberman looked into Cameras

in 2000 .

[Dems Will Win]

10. You see the real person comes across better and connects when you look

into the camera. Holy Joe's problem was that his personality sucks.

Kerry's shines! And we all know that in the closing statement you could feel it more.

He wasn't talking to Jim Lehrer then he was talking to you. Completely different feeling.

[JI7]

11. if it doesn't work for him then it would look fake

maybe he is just more comfortable as he is. he isn't worried about the cameras and the public. he is just being himself and doing what is comfortable for him.

[Dems Will Win]

19. But it does work for him. Look at the last 2 minutes when he did look

into the camera!

He was even better than looking off to the side. It won't throw him off or make him different.

[JI7]

23. but he wasn't answering a question from the moderator then

[Dems Will Win]

30. Oh. Well all I can say is watch debate 3 and he will address the camera

on question 1. I've consulted on 26 races, most county but some for state Senate and have won 22, and if that experience tells me anything, Kerry has been reminded I'm sure, to look at the camera next time.

Then he will be perfect and close the sale.

Note that almost all the undecideds said he did not close the sale, even though they were now leaning more toward Kerry.

If he addressed them instead of Jim Leher for 88 minutes he might have put Bush away right there.

Now he has to close the sale in Denbate 2--which I'm positive he will.

[JI7]

31. he should do whatever he is comfortable doing

lieberman faced the cameras and came off looking like he was trying to please too much.

kerry came off looking like presidential and in command.

[Misunderestimator]

12. Telling people where to find his plan is far better than Bush's tactic

of saying "People know what my plan is."

As for looking at the camera, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Seems a bit show-offy to me to do that. He WAS answering Lehrer's question and was speaking to the audience. In my opinion, if he stared at the camera the whole time, he wouldn't have connected as well as he did.

Personal names... He did get personal when he rattled off all the high-ranking military that supported his positions and agreed with his criticism of Bush. THAT was more effective than talking about Mrs. Jones in Peoria who lost her job. This wasn't the time for that. This was a debate about foreign policy. He put the right names out there.

[yvr girl]

41. He doesn't need to only look into the camera

But an occasional glance in the camera would help. Most public speakers glance at several spots in the room. He can address the moderator primarily, but also address the camera.

I think the problem was that the audience was blacked out. He treated it like he had an audience of one, when in reality he had an audience of some 60 million+.

I thought he did mention someone he met on the campaign trail. I don't remember the specifics, but I remember him doing it.

[readmylips]

13. Kerry followed the rules...and was right...

stop being a repig nitpicker. That was a big Kerry criticism from some repig lady. Why repeat it.

You have to remember, they were in this dark room and the only other person in the room was Lehrer. Georgie was trying to speak to a crowed he couldn't see and came out looking like a jerk..Mr. blinky, shitting in his pants. Kerry addressed the world, when he needed to.

[dumpster_baby]

14. don't try to improve the best presidential debate performance EVER! n/t

[shawcomm]

15. I agree about the four points...

There are a lot of people, especially the elderly and minorities, who do not own, have access to, or just plain don't know how to use computers and the Internet. When he has such a huge audience, maximize the opportunity. Don't just tell people to go to the website, because he's leaving out many who are unable to.

[Misunderestimator]

25. When someone is confined to 90 seconds, how would you suggest

that he lay out his entire strategy?

[shawcomm]

37. He could have his people digest it down

to the most important points he can get out in a minute or so. He is going to miss out on a lot of people if he only tells people to look his plan up. This goes for campaign stops as well as debates. My worry are the numbers of people that do not use computers that might miss the importance of his plan.

[demwing]

16. Kerry should look at the camera in debate3, not debate 2

In debate 2 he should look at the audience. People will see the look on his face as he talks to real people, and better yet, they'll see that the people can connect to HIM.

THATS is what Kerry needs to do in debate 2.

He has to show that people can relate to HIM. Once America sees that, they'll begin to follow along. No one wants to be first, but everyone want to join the gang.

[Dems Will Win]

20. I agree on debate 2 that's why I said the next Podium Style debate

Which is debate 3.


Obviously in the Town Hall he would look at the person asking the question and talk to the audience.

[Sparkly]

17. I liked him NOT looking into the cameras until the closing statement

It looks like grandstanding otherwise, imho. I liked him looking at the audience, at the moderator, at the Chimp, letting us be observers. Of course different people respond to that differently so I'm not saying you're wrong.

He did explain the four points, but rapidly (international summit to bring in allies, faster training of forces, get the reconstruction going with more Iraqi involvement instead of Halliburton's, and get the UN personnel needed in there to help set up a new government).

The difficulty, I think, is in choosing what to say when there's such a short time for each answer.

I know I can do a better job in Iraq. I have a plan to have a summit with all of the allies, something this president has not yet achieved, not yet been able to do to bring people to the table.

We can do a better job of training the Iraqi forces to defend themselves, and I know that we can do a better job of preparing for elections.

(snip)
Now, we have a choice here. I‘ve laid out a plan by which I think we can be successful in Iraq: with a summit, by doing better training, faster, by cutting—by doing what we need to do with respect to the U.N. and the elections.

There‘s only 25 percent of the people in there. They can‘t have an election right now.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

18. I for one am sick to the point of barfing...

...Of all the flavors of stinky cheese you name. Eye contact with a machine? Cletus McFetus who lost his arm to a tractor and needs health coverage? It was refreshing to see a candidate not use these tropes. Maybe you are right, though about what plays on Main St. And I do agree I would have liked a summary of the four points.

[Dems Will Win]

21. I am a professional political consultant

And these are just the debate review points I would have told any candidate, from local access TV to State races.

Most people are really listening to what they say because of the war and the bad economy so his mistake did not affect the outcome.

Bet Kerry was told this by his team and we will see him look into the camera more in Debate 3, the next podium debate.

[grasswire]

22. I heard this comment....

....from non-political people after the debate. Several of them wondered why he did not look at the camera. One couple thought that Bush was winning the debate because he spoke more directly to the people at home, as he is trained to do.

[Dems Will Win]

26. I thought Kerry had lost the debate too for this--until Bush sighed!

I jumped up and screamed "BUSH SIGHED!

HE LOSES! AUTOMATICALLY!"

As I said, this camera stuff was not so important because of the war and the grave state of Iraq.

But there is NO reason not to look at the camera. Especially when you are talking about how people are worried about Iraq and their kids, lines like that.

Bush did that fairly well, he's an idiot savant. THe split-screens of Bush on CSPAN though were hysterical when he thought he was OFF-Camera!

[donco6]

24. I disagree.

I served on a murder trial jury several years ago - lasted quite a long time. I remember there were several people who gave testimony who faced directly at the jury when they spoke. I found it unnerving. IMO, we're simply witnesses to the statements, not an audience to be manipulated.

[Dems Will Win]

27. The man was on television talking to 62.5 million people and he didn't

address them for 88 minutes.

Basic rookie mistake. Surprised to see Kerry even do this. I think he was tired from all the prep and simply forgot this basic rule 1, trying to remember everything else he had to do that night.

Could be he felt more comfortable which they discovered in the video-taped rehearsals but that seems unlikely to me.

He just forgot is more probable.

[JI7]

28. yet he won by a huge amount over Bush

[Dems Will Win]

32. but he "didn't close the sale" with the UNdecideds.

They're still undecided, although leaning to Kerry more...

Kerry has to get over his politeness to the moderator.

[Onlooker]

29. Kerry handled it just right

If he had played it differently, it could have come off as overbearing or disrespectful. Remember, Kerry needs to appeal not only to progressives, but also to a lot of moderates and even some conservatives if he's going to win the election.

[mzmolly]

33. I TOTALLY AGREE ! The reason Bush "connects" is because he does so.

Kerry needs to speak to America when he answers the questions. He can start by looking at the moderator and turn his attention to the camara in the end. :hi:

[Dems Will Win]

34. Exactly! Like every other experienced politician in America does!

Language consultant agrees:

-snip-

Mr Kerry "did not look at the camera, so he was not engaging the American public. He has to look at the camera and give off more warmth from his voice and smile."

-snip-

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/02/1096527990948.html?oneclick=true

This is NOT a minor point for a politician who is criticized for being aloof--though we know he is not--and for being cold, which he is not.

[Dems Will Win]

35. Voter agrees in Kansas

But to Frank Smith of Harper County, Kerry didn't go far enough.

Smith wanted Kerry to look into the camera instead of at the moderator

http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/local/9806508.htm

[Jade Fox]

38. Personally, I find someone looking at the camera, when they've been...

asked a question by someone in the room with them, to be totally phoney,
and disrespectful to the questioner. There was also and audience there at
the debate, even though they were silent.

This issue confuses me. I know lots of people like to have the candidate
look at the camera, and I've heard some criticism of Kerry for that. I don't
understand why my reaction is different. The "addressing the camera"
thing makes me feel manipulated.

When Bush spoke to the camera during the debate, for me it underscored
his smarmy-ness and also his arrogance: he couldn't be bothered to address
those actually in his presence. In contrast, I felt Kerry's addressing Lerher
showed respect, and when Kerry did look at the camera during his closing,
that felt like an appropriate change.

I'm telling you all this because, as a consultant, I'm hoping you can clear up
some of my confusion.

Thanks! :)

[Dems Will Win]

40. The standard is to initially address the moderator to be polite

but when you have something that should be said or explained to the country, you should be polite enough to address the camera.

Kerry showed that he really is a little disconnected from the people by not caring enough to talk to them, not Jim Lehrer.

The prep so focused on content, he forgot to do this for even one minute--until his closing statement.

[mzmolly]

36. Have you contacted the campaign? They really do listen.

:hi:

[Dems Will Win]

39. I bet they were all doing what I was doing

screaming at the TV to hope that Kerry could hear me and look into the camera.

But that's a good idea and I will email [e-mail]

Adam is the Deputy Press Secretary of the JK campaign.

[mzmolly]

42. Good ta know!

Another contact in the Kerry camp. :hi:

[Malva Zebrina]

43. No, I think he should do what is natural

Bush the narcissist, is so aware and intent upon looking at cameras, that he fails to look at the people he is shaking hands with and looks totally like a camera publicity hound--trying to make the photo op. He puts on an act for the camera also. It looks contrived. So does Laura . She is often looking at a different camera than the rest of the group she is being photographed with. When they hold up babies instead of looking at and enjoying the little baby, they are holding the poor thing up to the camera as if it were a trophy they have won, and making sure they smile at the camera.

[Ducks In A Row]

44. I disagreed with the looking into the camera

it's creepy. Bush looks like a loon when he does it.

It's much better to be looking at an actual person. Kerry's eyes are more alive for it.