Presidential Debate: Round 1

[Turtle]

Less than an hour to go, and it looks like we have a fight. Johnny has graciously maverickly decided not to pull out of the debate after all.

 

Nothing more to post really; just giving a place to focus on just the 1 debate. Hindsight is 20/20 they say, so let's later here say what we saw with clarity. :evil:

 

Shake hands gentlemen, go to your corners, and come out fighting at the bell. ;) :evil: :)

[freeztar]

Does anyone know if it is going to be broadcast live on the internet? I'd like to watch it, but I don't have tv.

[InfiniteNow]

Does anyone know if it is going to be broadcast live on the internet? I'd like to watch it, but I don't have tv.

 

Always a good resource for such things:

 

C-SPAN | Capitol Hill, The White House and National Politics

 

http://c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN_wm.aspx

 

:)

[Turtle]

Live in 15: MySpace.com - 2008 Presidential Debates, live at MyDebates.org. In partnership with the Commission on Presidential Debates and MySpace Impact.

[InfiniteNow]

John McCain has become the embodiment of the characatured policitians he formerly hunted and killed. He is now his own version of his former prey, the target which previously helped him gain the reputation he now enjoys. It's sad for me to watch.

[Thunderbird]

John McCain has become the embodiment of the characatured policitians he formerly hunted and killed. He is now his own version of his former prey, the target which previously helped him gain the reputation he now enjoys. It's sad for me to watch.

I just watched the debate McCain bats his eyes like a toad in a hail storm.

[Turtle]

I found the debate remarkably unremarkable*. It was Barack's to lose, he didn't, so he won.

 

*the eye blinking is genrally remarkable, and a couple campaigns ago I actually started keeping note-pad counts of 'eye-blinks-per-minute' for politicians & pundits alike. I never used the data to draw any hard correlations, but those with the higher BPM really bugged me. :hyper:

[Racoon]

I found the debate remarkably unremarkable*. It was Barack's to lose, he didn't, so he won.

 

*the eye blinking is genrally remarkable, and a couple campaigns ago I actually started keeping note-pad counts of 'eye-blinks-per-minute' for politicians & pundits alike. I never used the data to draw any hard correlations, but those with the higher BPM really bugged me. :hyper:

 

Good call Turtle

 

People who lie usually touch their face, scratch their noses, and avoid eye contact.

 

Politicians are trained liars, so I could see where eye blinking could be the manuerism to observe.

 

:Alien: :pirate: :xx: :hyper:

[Flying Binghi]

People who lie usually touch their face, scratch their noses, and avoid eye contact. ... so I could see where eye blinking could be the manuerism to observe.

 

Considering this is a science forum....

 

Eye blinking - what was the studio lighting like - intense ? ; Scratch their nose - did somebody have a cold/hayfever ? ; Avoid eye contact - or do you mean camera contact ? ; Those um, er's of Obama - heck, I do it myself when trying to compose an answer.

[Turtle]

Considering this is a science forum....

 

Eye blinking - what was the studio lighting like - intense ? ; Scratch their nose - did somebody have a cold/hayfever ? ; Avoid eye contact - or do you mean camera contact ? ; Those um, er's - heck, I do it myself when trying to compose an answer.

 

Johnny wouldn't look at Berry is the eye contact thingy people are noticing.

 

Here's a bit on psychology of blinking. :hyper:

 

Take blinking, for instance. The eyes blink without our control when we are anxious, scared, bored, tired, following the learning or storing of information. We blink less frequently when we are attending to both visually and aurally presented information; thus, when reading, our blink rate may go down to four to five blinks per minute while we "normally" blink anywhere between 15 to 30 times per minute.

 

According to John Stern, Ph.D., professor emeritus of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, and pioneer of blinking research, there is solid evidence that people blink frequently at points in time when they momentarily stop taking in and processing information. ...

The eyes have it: Candidates' eyes could be revealing

[Racoon]

Considering this is a science forum....

 

Eye blinking - what was the studio lighting like - intense ? ; Scratch their nose - did somebody have a cold/hayfever ? ; Avoid eye contact - or do you mean camera contact ? ; Those um, er's - heck, I do it myself when trying to compose an answer.

 

All the above could be possible.

 

I was referring to lying in general; Whether you do it to a police officer, your mother, or a person at the park bench.

People who lie tend to touch their face, scratch their nose, and avoid eye contact.

They teach you that somewhere I'm sure.

Or you can trust your own intuition over scientific correlation.

[Flying Binghi]

Note - I edited my previous post, the um, er's were refering to Obama.

 

In the little bit of the debate I seen, McCain looked tired. I guess He,s an old man so to be expected.

 

I have noticed many old people seem to get dry eyes and blink a lot.

[Cedars]

I only watched part of it. I feel asleep because I had to work in the morning. Like get up at 4am to get to work by 5am.

 

Anyways, my goal wasnt so much to listen to their responses as to watch how they handled themselves.

 

1. McCain kept his cool way better than Obama. McCain did not get flustered by things Obama had to say and was better at waiting for his turn. Obama tried to interrupt many times and that bothered me. It doesnt matter if what Obama wanted to say was true or not. He cannot afford to come across as angry.

 

2. Obama mentioned McCain being right way too many times. He should not have said it at all, instead he should have focused on where he is right. Call it what you want, being polite, being objective, whatever. Doesnt matter when your trying to sell your side.

 

At the point I fell asleep, I found the debate to be rather boring and it did not exceed my expectations of just another debate between two people who dont see me.

 

Obama was at a disadvange with me. The people I know who support him keep parading his message, his speaking abilities as something to be witnessed for oneself. He let me down.

 

McCain on the other hand has a long history and his actions in the debate met my expectations. He did not surprise me. There was no A-Ha moment that would have convinced me my vote was better off in his box or in the other guys box.

 

I dont think there was a winner of debate 1.

[Zythryn]

I agree, pretty much a draw. Both threw some punches, made some points, but neither scored a 'knock out punch'.

McCain, in my eyes, bugged the heck out of me with his belittling attitude of Obama anytime he disagreed. That arrogance is not, in my mind, going to win over many independent voters.

[Moontanman]

I agree, pretty much a draw. Both threw some punches, made some points, but neither scored a 'knock out punch'.

McCain, in my eyes, bugged the heck out of me with his belittling attitude of Obama anytime he disagreed. That arrogance is not, in my mind, going to win over many independent voters.

 

Yeah I was disappointed by the debate, McCain was very arrogant but he didn't show any reason to be arrogant other than an old man talking down to a young man. Very disturbing, i expected more from both of them.

[Essay]

I just heard a talking head mention that it might be interesting to hear what Ralph Nader and Bob Barr could add to this debate (with their always ranting about corporate welfare, etc.).

 

Yea, geee; that might be interesting. ...You think?

 

...and maybe also add the Green Party's, Cynthia McKinney.

 

[Cedars]

McCain, in my eyes, bugged the heck out of me with his belittling attitude of Obama anytime he disagreed. That arrogance is not, in my mind, going to win over many independent voters.

 

Yes, this is true. McCain did talk down to Obama and was on attack mode rather than promoting his own ideas. If McCain had used the term liberal one more time before I dozed off, I think I would have screamed.

 

I would also add that while once upon a time McCain could be called a maverick, this is no longer true since the republican party beat that spark out of him after losing to Bush in 2000. He has been more of a Bush lap dog (broken down nag) than a maverick the past 4-6 years.