rogerebert.suntimes.com — Roger Ebert provides a simple reaction to the first presidential debate. Is it a show of weakness to state you agree with your opponent, and a sign of strength to not even acknowledge your opponent with eye contact?
Sep 29, 2008 View in Crawl 4
olon97Sep 29, 2008
FTA: "You made a TV commercial showing the moments Obama agreed with you.Everybody knows he did. Did his agreement show honesty, or weakness?It is significant that you said it proved he was not ready to lead.What is the better leadership quality: (1) Willingness to listen to your opponent, and keep an open mind? (2) Rigidly ignoring him? Which of the two of you better demonstrated the bipartisan spirit you say you represent? Was there anything he said that you agreed with? Could you have brought yourself to say so?I'm not the only one who noticed your odd, hostile behavior. Just about everybody did. I'm sure many of your supporters must have sensed the tension. Before the debate, pundits were wondering if you might explode in a display of your famous temper. I think we saw that happen, all right, but it was an implosion. I have instructed my wife to exclude you from any future dinner parties. "
booksnmore4youSep 29, 2008
Nailed it.My guess is that McCain was specifically advised not to look at Obama; otherwise, McCain might lose his temper.
acroyear2Oct 1, 2008
That's what I was thinking afterwards.