not liveblogging

[lagilman]

One thing I learned listening* to the debate. McCain's voice bugs the hell out of me. I don't know why. Does anyone else find his voice grating? Can anyone pinpoint what it is? [EtA: yes, it's the whistling essss noise. If he is elected, I will be hearing fingers scratching on chalkboards for 4 years (or however long he lives). I might as well give up and go mad now.]

So far, I don't think anyone who was in one camp will be swayed to another. I give Obama more points for debunking McCain's claims [especially on corporate taxes on paper vs loopholes, and taxing health care benefits] but he's not following through. McCain's only debating misstep was trying to speak down to Obama (the "strategy vs tactics' bit) because dude, your opponent can take you to the mat on using the big words properly, and you sound condescending as hell, not presidential.

(oh man, he did it again "I don't think Senator Obama understands..." Duuude. That is so not a good tactic.)


In other news of more local concern: "State officials announced an ambitious plan on Friday to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge with a new bridge with room for commuter trains and high-speed bus lanes. The price tag for a new bridge and expanded rail and bus lines: $16 billion." And there was much cheering from the Tri-State drivers. I used to shiver every time I drove over that damn thing, thinking that this would be the day it collapsed....


*I've actually got it on audio stream via the New York Times, while I work. Yay for multitasking!

Comments

[filamena.livejournal.com]

He (McCain) has a very pronounced whistling 's.' What I mean is, when he makes the 's' sound, he whistles. (Duh, right?)

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

He also sounds condescending all the time, like he's my daddy and he's going to take care of everything, so I don't have to worry my pretty head about it. Drives me nuts.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

It's not helping that the actual words are patronizing as well, such as that schoolyard snipe about tactics vs strategy.

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but when I taught college students were always the most impressed by the older male professors who talked down to them.

[lagilman]

Me, I dropped classes where the professor talked down to me. If they didn't respect my intelligence, how could I trust them to teach me anything?

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

I never understood it myself. Bush, of course, had the paradoxical combination of sounding both dumb as a fencepost and condescending, which made people think he was just like them and line up because he must know something they didn't anyway. McCain can't pull off the good-ole-boy thing, but he has tried to convince people that Barack Obama is an elitist.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

What a sad dynamic.

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

Yep. Frustrating when your not an old white dude.

[rovanda.livejournal.com]

Or like he's reading you a bedtime story...

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

But he really does keep saying over and over that Obama doesn't get it, like a sad dad being patient, and of course if Obama doesn't get it, then neither do his supporters--

[burger-eater.livejournal.com]

I don't mind McCain's voice. What he says with it, yeah, but he's no Shrub.

[filamena.livejournal.com]

Obama's getting plenty of sound bites, whether he meant to or not. "If we can't sit down with our friends, who can we sit down with?"

[lindajdunn.livejournal.com]

I have a hearing impairment so I cannot hear the whistling sound. However, I keep thinking he reminds me of Uncle Fester in The Adams Family.

[dianora2.livejournal.com]

I was too distracted by the fact that McCain blinks far more often than is normal.

[lagilman]

One of the advantages of listening and not watching is that I didn't get distracted by the visuals. Although when Obama was talking I heard an awful lot of crinkling, rustling noises. Who was shuffling their notes?


(also: someone said that McCain refused to look at Obama, even once. True/false? Was it a general stiffness, or was he being deliberately exclusionary?)


I also read that the KKK made an appearance outside the hall. *spits in disgust* It's one thing to have a spirited disagreement about religion or politics or economics or whathaveyou. But basing your opinions on the premise of "me good, you bad because me me and you physically different..." Ugh. Skin, gender, sexual preferences... makes as much sense to hate someone because they're a lefty -- at least then you can claim they always job you in the ribs at the dinner table.

*reins self in before that becomes a rant* Let's just say that dissing someone on the basis of the above parameters is a surefire way to get banned off this LJ.

[rovanda.livejournal.com]

As far as we could tell, he was staring fixedly at the moderator the whole time. None of us caught a single glance in Obama's direction.

I'm of the opinion that he would have exploded if he looked at him. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't see the famous McCain temper...

[rosefox]

McCain was shuffling a lot of paper and writing notes to himself. And yes, the difference in body language and willingness to make eye contact was really striking.

[dianora2.livejournal.com]

McCain really didn't look at Obama at all...maybe for a split second occasionally when Obama spoke to him directly. Everyone seems to be picking up on that too, and it doesn't make McCain look good, that's for sure.

I can't stand to hear Bush either

[bjcooper.livejournal.com]

I think with Bush, I dislike him SO much that I get a visceral physical reaction (which has never happened to me with any other president). I have to turn away if he is speaking or on TV. If elected, McCain will probably become the same. I had to force myself to watch him in the debate, and to watch him at the RNC.

[chibiaingeal.livejournal.com]

As for McCain's voice - I thought he just sounded tired.

I really got sick of how many times McCain pointed out Obama's past history with earmarks. I got sick of "strategy vs. tactics" and "I don't think Senator Obama understands..."

I have to agree with your statement about their persuasiveness, but I'd add that I don't think either of them was convincing enough to sway undecided voters either.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

On French radio, they are saying Obama inched ahead of McCain with the undecided voters. Is that true?

[lagilman]

There's really no way to tell. Any overnight poll almost had to be an unscientific one, and part of the fun of polls is seeing how many ways you can rig them....

Unless McCain has the much-anticipated temper melt-down, or Obama starts reciting the Koran, I think we're pretty much in the dark how the votes will go until November.

[vincam.livejournal.com]

After eight years of that phoqueing redneck in the White House, I'm tickled into little, bitty pieces over Obama, who sounds like he actually attended classes at college. His accent slips occasionally, but that's nothing compared to Bush's mealy mouth.

[lagilman]

to be fair, Clinton's "good ole' boy" accent annoyed me too, because I'd heard him speak and it was clearly a political ploy, but McCain's voice is more of the "dogs whimpering" effect on me -- my teeth just clench and I go on edge.

[vincam.livejournal.com]

Well, there's Southern, and then there's backwoods. Clinton's accent is at least as genuine as Obama's, and I'm okay with it because he doesn't sound like an ignorant redneck. My beef with Bush is that he sounds like a hick. Even if he managed to pronounce "nuclear" correctly, I'd still half expect him to have a chaw in his cheek and be spitting into a cup. (Once he's gone from the White House, I think someone ought to check under the porch for hound dogs and discarded sofas.)

As for McCain, I'm with you on that. His voice is like a red flag that means, "For the love of God, don't vote for me! I'm too old for this office and it's going to kill me!"