“You don’t say that out loud!” – McCain to Obama during the first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi, Friday, September 26, 2008
Watching the debate last night, one thing struck me as incredibly annoying – McCain’s insistence that we’re all his “friends”. I think if he had said “my friends” one more time, I was going to scream. John McCain is not my friend, nor is overusing the phrase going to make me believe that he is. I don’t recall him using, or over using, these words in past appearances, but perhaps, in his desperation to appear “common”, he has convinced himself that the only way to do so is to make us all feel as if we are his buds.
Another McCain problem is his inability to address his opponent. In the first presidential debate, McCain went out of his way to avoid looking at Obama; to the point where, at times, he actually turned slightly away from him. Whereas, Obama addressed McCain (after all, a debate does, or should, involve some interaction between opponents), the audience, the American public, the moderator, etc. As the candidates greeted each other, Obama warmly greeted McCain, and McCain looked past his opponent as he shook his hand.
McCain’s treatment of Obama has been at best, rude, and, at worst, unbecoming of a man who seeks this nation’s highest office. It’s almost as if McCain’s opinion of Obama is so low that he can’t be bothered to address him. This is a problem for someone in politics, since politicians often have to deal with people they don’t like – heck, people they can’t stand. It’s important that McCain realizes that his treatment of his foes reflects on him as a person as well as upon his ability to do the job he’s applying for.
A final McCain problem, at least in the body language and verbal references arena, is his reference of Obama as “that one”. Dude, “that one” is, like you, on the road to the White House, not someone you’re picking out of a line up.
The thing is, I’m not sure McCain cares how he’s treating his opponent. Sometimes we’re so convinced that others are so far below us that we just can’t help our opinions of that person or persons revealing themselves in our behavior. In this arena, you’ve got to give Palin some credit. She and her family interacted nicely with Biden and his family after the vice-presidential debate. It looked like they were all sincerely enjoying each other’s company.
There are a ton of issues that haunt this election, with national finances, security, and healthcare being only the tip of the iceberg. It might seem silly to analyze how the candidates treat each other. But, geeze, if a presidential candidate can’t be bothered to conceal his disdain for his opponent, that tells me a great deal about how he might feel about the people he’s asking to elect him and those with whom he’ll need to interact if he’s elected. If a man, or woman, shows such distaste in dealing with his opponent, how successful will he be in dealing with issues that face each of us down here in the trenches day in and day out? After all, healthcare issues and the mortgage crisis don’t affect McCain personally; they affect you and me – the little people. I don’t want to feel as if a presidential candidate can’t be bothered to set aside his own disdain for what he finds distasteful for even a couple of hours on national television and deal with matters in a manner which isn’t insulting and belittling.
Nope, McCain, you don’t say that out loud, but you’re body language and off-the-cuff references to your opponent give you away.
But, I don’t have all the answers either.
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