There’s Something Going On That’s Not Quite Right
Ayse shared this in Google Reader last night. It’s from Andrew Sullivan’s liveblogging of last night’s debate:
10.33 pm. This was, I think, a mauling: a devastating and possibly electorally fatal debate for McCain. Even on Russia, he sounded a little out of it. I’ve watched a lot of debates and participated in many. I love debate and was trained as a boy in the British system to be a debater. I debated dozens of times at Oxofrd. All I can say is that, simply on terms of substance, clarity, empathy, style and authority, this has not just been an Obama victory. It has been a wipe-out. It has been about as big a wipe-out as I can remember in a presidential debate. It reminds me of the 1992 Clinton-Perot-Bush debate. I don’t really see how the McCain campaign survives this.
It’s McCain’s social skills that seems to belie his ability to effectively debate. He could almost pull it off, but as Chris Matthews was saying after the debate, Obama has this sincere smile that feels real and a natural ability to connect. McCain comes across as really creepy and insincere when he laughs/smiles. As a psychologist, I have to say that these social mistakes McCain keeps making get people at a real gut level. They don’t know what it is about McCain that’s rubbing them the wrong way, but people who are savvy socially know something just ain’t right – whether they can say what that thing is or not.
The title of this post is from “Strange” by R.E.M.’s 1987 album Document (lyrics)
Comment by Diane (redefining)
October 8, 2008 @ 9:01 am
Amen! Watching him last night, I was just dumbfounded with how awkward he appeared on stage, how his attempts to be humorous failed miserably and how his rhetoric lacked sincerity. It’s good to see the perspective of a psychologist back up the way I feel every time I watch and listen to McCain. I can’t imagine four years of this man leading our nation. Obama ’08!