Biden, Body Language, and Pasting Palin
In a prior post, I examined how Barack Obama's body language in the first presidential debate exuded presidential confidence and a position of power. I contrasted it to John McCain's body language, which came across as deferential to Obama's superior presence.
After watching Joe Biden debate Sarah Palin, as well as portions of Katie Couric's interview and the SNL spoof of the same, I thought it would be fun to perform a similar analysis. I am not going to get into there general performances, but will focus instead on the subtle nuances.
Let's start with Biden. During some of Palin's "oh gosh, that's just that Washington insider stuff again", he exhaled deeply and loudly. Whether it was planned or an expression of sheer exasperation I cannot say; I can say that I've done that plenty of times when cross-examining a witness who just will NOT answer the question. Quite a few times the split screen CNN cameras caught Biden shaking his head in disbelief, presumably over Palin's complete and utter lack of ability or desire to say anything more specific than that she was McCain's running mate.
I'm not sure how well it went over with undecideds, but I though Biden's use of the phrase "let me say that again . . . ." came across as impatient Palin's half-truths and flat out refusal to engage in anything remotely like a debate.
For me, Palin's body language and facial expressions came across as worthy of an elected executive--the mayor of a small town rather than the Republican nominee for vice president.
Whether others feel Biden ran roughshod over Palin's lack of knowledge on anything other than ruining Alaska's environment to "drill baby drill" for oil I cannot say. I can say that she came across to me as someone who, when asked to write an essay on all she knows about foreign affairs and the national economy, leaves the pages blank. In her mind, and it seems like in the mind of McCain's campaign team, she answered the question perfectly--an empty page does represent all she knows about foreign affairs and the national economy.
You can't see my body language right now, so I'll use words and be direct in communicating directly what I think Governor Palin brings to the table as a vice presidential candidate: a blank page.
After watching Joe Biden debate Sarah Palin, as well as portions of Katie Couric's interview and the SNL spoof of the same, I thought it would be fun to perform a similar analysis. I am not going to get into there general performances, but will focus instead on the subtle nuances.
Let's start with Biden. During some of Palin's "oh gosh, that's just that Washington insider stuff again", he exhaled deeply and loudly. Whether it was planned or an expression of sheer exasperation I cannot say; I can say that I've done that plenty of times when cross-examining a witness who just will NOT answer the question. Quite a few times the split screen CNN cameras caught Biden shaking his head in disbelief, presumably over Palin's complete and utter lack of ability or desire to say anything more specific than that she was McCain's running mate.
I'm not sure how well it went over with undecideds, but I though Biden's use of the phrase "let me say that again . . . ." came across as impatient Palin's half-truths and flat out refusal to engage in anything remotely like a debate.
For me, Palin's body language and facial expressions came across as worthy of an elected executive--the mayor of a small town rather than the Republican nominee for vice president.
Whether others feel Biden ran roughshod over Palin's lack of knowledge on anything other than ruining Alaska's environment to "drill baby drill" for oil I cannot say. I can say that she came across to me as someone who, when asked to write an essay on all she knows about foreign affairs and the national economy, leaves the pages blank. In her mind, and it seems like in the mind of McCain's campaign team, she answered the question perfectly--an empty page does represent all she knows about foreign affairs and the national economy.
You can't see my body language right now, so I'll use words and be direct in communicating directly what I think Governor Palin brings to the table as a vice presidential candidate: a blank page.
# Posted by Michael : 1:50 AM
Comments:
I'm not sure I've been so appalled by four words in my life. Recently Sarah Palin accused Senator Obama of "palling around with terrorists". Palling around with terrorists. Spend a few moments with that image in your mind. That is a vivid, evocative, and deeply concerning statement that is utterly incorrect and reflect more upon Sarah Palin's reckless, dangerous, and deeply disturbing character and personality. These are the kind of word bombs that, if lobbed at the wrong person, can ignite if not a word war, an all-out world war.
Can you imagine this woman spouting reckless comments on the world stage about Ahmadinejad, Hamas, Putin or God knows who else? If elected, this woman would become an official representative of the United States and step onto the world stage with her careless, impetuous, ignorant word bombs with absolutely no regard for the consequences. It is her unthinking boldness and her smug ignorance that, if elected, have the grave potential to careen this country toward total collapse.
Please, please, please send this to ten of your friends and encourage them to send it to ten of their friends and so on. We need a voter turnout against this woman that is so strong, so passionate and so determined to ensure Sarah Palin is not one tenuous heart beat from the Presidency.
Regarding Senator Obama "palling around" with William Ayers who was a leader in a radical and violent anti-Vietnam group from the 60s: The facts are a $200 contribution by Ayers to an Obama re-election fund, and their joint membership on the Woods Fund Board, an anti-poverty funding program. Ayers is now a distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois and a former aide to Mayor Richard M. Daley. A statement from the Obama campaign pretty much sums it up: "Senator Obama strongly condemns the violent actions of the Weathermen group, as he does all acts of violence. But he was an eight-year-old child when Ayers and the Weathermen were active, and any attempt to connect Obama with events of almost forty years ago is ridiculous."
Ridiculous, yes, but also dangerous, reckless, misleading and spoken by an inexperienced, careless woman who has no regard for facts or decorum.
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