Thomas in my St. Pete Times on the front page is this article.
Do you agree that George Bush is stupid sometimes?
WASHINGTON - Republican media consultant Adam Goodman has some standard advice for his clients before a debate. "The camera is always on," he tells them. "Every angle is potentially live."
Democratic consultant Karl Struble tells his clients the same thing, and says they should "look interested" when their opponent is talking. He tells them that if they don't like the other candidate's comments, "you should be smiling and shaking your head, as opposed to frowning."
If President Bush got that advice, it was not evident during his debate Thursday night against Sen. John Kerry. While Kerry spoke, Bush appeared miffed.
"Bush looked real nervous. Bush was mad. He kept frowning," Pam Russell, a Detroit retiree, told the Associated Press.
Bob Wiesner, managing director of Rogen International, which provides media training for corporate executives, said Bush "was making faces, looking around, rolling his eyes. He hardly ever looked at Kerry."
Wiesner said it appeared that Kerry was listening to Bush, "but I did not get the impression that Bush was listening to Kerry."
Bella DePaulo, a psychology professor at the University of California/Santa Barbara who has studied nonverbal communication, said Bush's behavior was surprising because it did not match his campaign image of strength and leadership.
"There was a kind of desperate, annoyed sense about him," she said.
David Birdsell, author of a 1988 book about presidential debates, agreed and said Bush's behavior could have a significant impact on the campaign.
"Last night's performance will persevere as the bedrock doubt about what George Bush claims to be," he said.
Democrats on Friday moved quickly to take advantage of the images.
Joe Lockhart, a senior adviser to Kerry, said Bush "seemed agitated, annoyed, fidgety." The Democratic National Committee posted on its Web site a video called Faces of Frustration that showed Bush scowling and frowning while Kerry was speaking.
The debate rules were supposed to prohibit such reaction shots. "TV coverage will be limited to the candidate speaking," says Rule 9(a)(v) in the 32-page contract that covers everything from podium dimensions to the candidates' makeup. But the TV networks were not bound by the contract and showed many shots of the candidates reacting to each other.
The Kerry campaign said Friday that the rule was sought by the Bush campaign.
"They were very, very concerned that this president couldn't keep his cool," said Lockhart. "That's why they so desperately wanted this rule against cutaway shots."
Bush spokesman Brian Jones said he didn't know who sought that rule.
Asked about Bush's appearance, Jones said, "the president is someone who wears his emotions on his sleeve and, at times, was bemused by the fact that John Kerry is a walking contradiction when it comes to Iraq and the war on terror."
When voters make judgments about candidates, they assess a wide range of factors, including the candidates' reactions during a debate, said DePaulo.
"It feeds into an overall feel we have about a candidate," she said.
Many people who listened on the radio to the 1960 presidential debate believed Richard Nixon won. But many who watched on TV felt John F. Kennedy won because Nixon was sweating and appeared uncomfortable. Likewise, Bush's father suffered a setback in a 1992 debate when he was shown looking at his watch. It appeared he was eager for the event to end.
In 2000, Vice President Al Gore was caught sighing during Bush's answers. He was ridiculed by Republicans and late-night comics.
Mike McCurry, a senior adviser to the Kerry campaign, said Bush's behavior Thursday night was surprising because of his father's wristwatch episode. "You would think he would have wanted to stand there and not look like he wanted to be on another planet," McCurry said.
McCurry predicted that Bush's "smirk of 2004 has replaced the sigh of 2000 as the most devastating cutaway shot."
But Goodman, the Republican consultant, said Bush's reactions "were very real and genuine" because he was so unhappy with Kerry's comments.
"People want to see what's underneath," he said. "They saw that from the president."
Times political editor Adam C. Smith contributed to this report. |
