Monday, October 22, 2012

Last week's presidential debate was not as interesting as I was anticipating, although it was full of sly remarks and attacks, which was to be expected.

Unlike in the Vice Presidential debate, both participants in last weeks debate were confident, composed, and enthusiastic. They both used good posture and "powerful poses" as discussed in last week's TED talk. Both also exhibited smiling and other confidence facial gestures, as well as body gestures that displayed attention and confidence. Both, as expected, kept their cool quite well (except for the few times when both were trying to talk over one another). In the VP debate, some criticized Biden as being mean or accused him of laughing at the issues. On the other hand, I felt it displayed Biden as extremely confident of his stances, with most chuckles indicating what he thought was "BS" or a statement that permitted a response. During the first debate, we saw a much more powerless and unresponsive president, but during the last debate we got to see a completely new Obama who kicked back with great amounts of confidence.

The town hall style debates are supposed to seem more welcoming and casual, as well as a chance for the public to ask questions. However, I did hear rumor that all the questions were predetermined and merely given to people to ask. I have not researched this claim further but felt I would mention it. I feel it is also worth noting that the only "clear" win in last week's debate was when the moderator pointing out Romney's false remarks towards Obama's handling of the Libya incident. Besides this one point, people start watching the debate and already know who is going to win. In other words, I feel people usually think that who they already support "won" the debate, regardless of who had better responses or body language.

Tonight's debate, the last one, should prove to be very interesting. How will Romney and Obama act? Will they both appear confident and powerful again, or will one become submissive? Tune in at 9:00PM EST tonight to find out!

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