Immediately after watching last night’s debate, my impression was that it ended in a draw. Both candidates were articulate and well-versed on the topics, while neither one inflicted any significant rhetorical wounds on the other. McCain’s failure to make eye contact with Obama didn’t register with me at the time, but then neither did Gore’s now-infamous sigh during his debate with Bush in 2000. If the media is still talking about McCain’s passive-aggressiveness in a few days, I predict that his handlers pack him off to charm school for a crash course in feigned politeness.
It’s a good thing I’m not running for president; the blogs would probably describe my body language as “stiff” or “uninspiring” (unless I had one of my aides wave my hand to emphasize a point, which might not do much to improve my image).
Obama needed to present himself as someone whom voters could imagine occupying the White House. He accomplished that. Whether his performance provided him with an extra gust of wind at his back remains to be seen.
Next up is the vice-presidential debate. Over at the Atlantic website, Ta-Nehisi Coates expresses genuine sympathy for Sarah Palin, whom he regards as an unwitting tool of McCain’s ambition. I’m not willing to be as charitable and neither are some conservatives. Her ambition probably equals McCain’s, but her lack of self-awareness is what jeopardizes her political future. If she hopes to do well on Thursday, she needs to stop regurgitating talking points in scattershot fashion (as she did during the Katie Couric interview) and speak her mind. If McCain and his team won’t permit that, she can’t blame anyone but herself for the consequences.
