Obama Studying Palin's "Likeability" Factor?
After media interviews earlier today in New York to predict what would happen on stage tonight, I raced home from the airport with only 30 seconds to spare, grabbed a pen and paper, and flipped on the TV to see the candidates spar again. Anticipation. Excitement. Anxiety.
I turned off the TV 90 minutes later, disappointed and bored. Basically, it was a re-run of their face-off on September 26. With the town-hall setting and questions from the audience, I’d hoped to hear questions that would let us get to know things about the candidates not typically covered in their stump speeches. Not so.
But since style seemed to be the only thing that differed tonight, I’ll focus there rather than on substance.
Obama’s Communication Style Tonight
He came across as much warmer tonight than in the previous debate and in previous speeches. Frequently accused of aloofness and elitism, he perhaps has been taking note of Sarah Palin’s popularity and all the ink she has been getting around the country for her personality (albeit typically in a backhanded way). He even began dropping the “g’s” on the ends of his verbs just as Palin has a habit of doing.
And when McCain said something he didn’t agree with, he refrained from the snickering, tossing his head back, and rolling his eyes so common in the first debate. He also called audience members by name and personalized his responses to them.
Another thing Palin was heavily criticized for in her vice-presidential debate: Not answering the question asked and instead reframing to present talking points. (Technically, debaters lose points for this mistake. But politicians can gain points by reframing and “staying on message” as long as no one notices or cares that they didn’t answer the question.) Ditto for Obama tonight in four instances.
McCain’s Communication Style Tonight
He was more organized in his responses and less repetitious (for example, in the first debate, he got hung up on the broken record of “earmarks” and “tax cuts”).
He gave precise summary responses about his plans, views, or philosophy and then gave specific examples from his legislative record or experiences to illustrate them.
Typically, he tells brief anecdotes and uses spontaneous humor. But tonight he tossed in only a one-liner about his hair and that fell flat—the joke, not the hair.
In fact, the only communicator that spiced things up tonight was Tom Brokaw, when he tossed in a couple of one-liners about the candidates continuing to go overtime in their responses. When Obama asked for a second rebuttal against the rules, Brokaw tossed up his hands and said, “Sure, why not? I’m just the hired help.”
A second time when the candidates continued to go over time on the “environmental/green” question, Brokaw insisted, “You see these GREEN lights and red lights? They mean something!”
In summary: Both candidates do a better job of communicating their talking points every time they take the stage. And they should. They’ve had 18 months to practice! What I want to know is this: Why isn’t someone asking tougher questions?
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