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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (51102)	10/2/2004 9:44:36 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

"Maybe he was tired. Maybe he should have taken an afternoon nap." (or maybe his pet goat ate his homework) Pros fill in the blinks on W BY CORKY SIEMASZKO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Confronted with a debate challenge from John Kerry, President Bush blinked. And blinked, and blinked, and blinked, and blinked. And the cutaway camera shots that Bush's handlers did not want the networks to broadcast also caught an embarrassing smorgasbord of smirks that graced the President's face as Kerry made his case. "Normally, excessive blinking is a sign of discomfort," said Barbara Laskin of Laskin Media, a Manhattan communications training and consulting firm. "He was uncomfortable and defensive and his blinking and body language reflected that." Convinced that Bush's grimaces are campaign gold, the Democratic National Committee spliced together a video, set it to music, dubbed it "Faces of Frustration" and placed it on its Web site. But frustration isn't the only thing Gerard Nierenberg, author of "How to Read a Person Like a Book," saw. "When someone is not sure of the truth, their eyes blink rapidly," he said. Bush's eyes didn't betray him until the end of the debate, said Joseph Tecce, a psychology professor at Boston College who taped the debate and then counted the blinks. Both candidates blinked at a normal rate of 30 to 50 times a minute for most of the back-and-forth. In fact, Kerry blinked more than Bush. But when it came time to sum up, Bush's blink rate skyrocketed to 109 times a minute while Kerry's held steady at 48. Unfortunately for Bush, "the last impression is what sticks with people," Tecce said. Bush's body language also undermined him, especially when Kerry was speaking, the experts said. The President looked peevish, his shoulders slumped, and at one point he issued a sigh that was nearly Al Gore-worthy in its intensity. "It surprised me he didn't try to look more engaged when Kerry was talking," said Maxine Fiel, a Long Island-based communications consultant. "He knew the cameras would be on him. "Maybe he was tired. Maybe he should have taken an afternoon nap." nydailynews.com

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (51102)	10/2/2004 10:13:29 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 81568

<<...Rove has always struck me as the McNamara of political strategy... body counts, analysis and statistics down cold, and the most cold-blooded apparatchik imaginable, but the "facts on the ground" could still surpise him. (I think the big surprise may be that Rove's attempt to suppress voter turnout will backfire. If the current trend holds, I think we'll see a larger than usual turnout, which Rove/Bush can't afford.)...>> washingtonmonthly.com

To: CalculatedRisk who wrote (51102)	10/2/2004 10:13:44 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 81568

<<...When Bush inevitably says Kerry is going to tax everyond to death, I'm hoping Kerry says something to the effect: Even this president's father, when faced with winning a war in Iraq and other tough budget decisions, made a choice for fiscal responsibility and raised taxes. He knew that the right thing to do was to try to leave the country in better shape than when he took office, and not burden our children and grandchildren with fiscal crises and crushing debt...>> washingtonmonthly.com