Ladies: Presidential debates, did you watch?
 

There's another thread going in Politics about the debates from Friday night, but not many women have replied to it... am wondering how many of you watched some/all of the televised debates, and what you thought about them, if so.

Iceland had a live feed direct from the debates, which began at 1am our time and went for about 88 minutes. The last 2 minutes just went to black... looks like whomever was on duty at the station tripped over a cord or something, lol. Anyway, so ktsp and I stayed up to watch, which was interesting because there was only one camera angle available at any one time (focusing on just one candidate or Jim Lehrer, the moderator, at one time)... I wanted to see the reactions of the other candidate at times, but we didn't have the option. I have heard that McCain's reactions were much stronger than Obama's, in terms of appearing impatient and annoyed, but I didn't see any of it.

Overall, what stood out the most to me was McCain's body language towards Obama throughout the debate. He never turned to look at him, never made eye contact with him, never used his name other than to accuse him (in the third person) of "not understanding" something, several times. Honestly, I felt like he strongly disliked Obama and could not even do him the common courtesy of eye contact. It's been said by many others, but I wondered how this man could sit down with foreign enemies, if he can't even stand and acknowledge the presence of a fellow senator for 90 minutes while having one of the most important exchanges of the entire campaign.

I appreciate being able to see these debates, because I think they're one of the very, very few unscripted moments that we, as voters, get to see of both candidates within a few meters of each other. There's no teleprompter, no commercials (at least, not in Iceland), no escape, basically. I like that. I wish we could have more of that, in American politics... with more parties, of course. But at least we do have this, amidst all of the other bullshit of political propaganda.

What did you all think? Do you plan to watch the other debates? Personally, I can't wait to see the VP debates, because in my opinion Sarah Palin has botched every single interview she's done (and that's not saying much--she's only had 2 meaningful interviews on national television, since McCain won't let her out of his campaign cage, otherwise).

If you didn't watch the debates, was there any reason for why you chose not to do so? I have never watched the debates before, but again, I have never cared so much about the outcome of these elections as I have this year. A lot of my political behavior has changed, as a result.

My friends and I watched the debates when they were rebroadcasted right after the original airing. As I watched, I was reminded of the first televised debate between Nixon and Kennedy with Obama being Kennedy. Obama seemed very aware of how he was coming across and seemed to phrase his answers well. McCain seemed to be reading more scripted answers written in 'politico speech', basically very roundabout answers. While the questions were formal, the whole process of this debate seemed more relaxed; both candidates spoke over one another on occasion. I thought debates like this were more 'one party speaks and then the other one does'.

I think the VP debate will be very interesting because Joe Biden is a decent public off the cuff speaker. Palin seems personable but doesn't seem to be able to concisely get her message across.

Can't wait.

No, didn't watch. We don't have TV service and the internet connection was too slow to watch live. I tried.

I will at least be listening to the VP debates on NPR, if not watching them in my friend's hotel room when she is visiting this weekend.

I'm with you, a.

I thought Obama spoke well, but I feel that McCain's performance overshadowed with his snide and smug appearance. Obama clearly addressed all issues, McCain sounded like a broken record, constantly repeating himself and never addressing the questions asked. Everything he said was verbatim what he said at the RNC. Boring, condescending and
kinda assholish (izzat a word? :p ) bordering on rude.

Palin? Ha ha haha. It'll be the best entertainment we've seen in years.

We're planning on hosting a small gathering for the VP debate, to give our friends without television a chance to watch them, and to enjoy what promises to be an interesting evening in company. My only worry is that if Biden goes too much on the offensive, will he be painted as a misogynist? I think there is a chance for a lot of reverse sexism in the VP debate.

As for the first debate, I watched about an hour of it but couldn't stand McCain's smugness. I also couldn't stand that he wouldn't/couldn't address multiple issues, but instead kept harping on the same issues repeatedly instead of moving into new territory. He has beaten the earmark horse to death!

I mean, McCain did not even LOOK at Obama. It was seriously disturbing... how can you avoid eye contact for 90 minutes, on worldwide television, knowing that everyone is watching you and your reactions to everything? And knowing that your opponent is looking directly at you, looking directly at the camera, maintaining his composure, looking as statesmenlike as they come... I mean, that is just phenomenally stupid. Maybe he really is losing his mind. Which would be perfect, since Palin doesn't seem to have a mind to begin with. Please, please, America... DON'T let these people anywhere near the White House!

I hope that Palin *only* provides entertainment, instead of actually gaining a position at the White House. I'm too scared to laugh sometimes, at least until it's all over and I'm assured that she will be nowhere near being in power.

It was. I thought when Obama shook his hand, both before and after, when McCain looked the other way, Obama gave McCain's forearm that little grasp of warmth (not sure how to describe that). I thought that was a nice touch. I saw that as his way of acting cordial despite McCain's obvious animosity.

Ive been in Hawaii for the week and we spent the better part of an hour looking for a public venue to watch the debates. We asked out concierge where to go and he was flummoxed. We asked at a number of hotel bars, but they didnt have tv. We went to a sports bar which had 12 tv screens, but they were unwilling to put the debates on even one screen. We went back to our place and watched it there.

It was fine. I think J would have liked a little more yelling at the screen, but mainly it was rather boring. J continues to say that he is waiting for some alien to reach out of McCain's face. I dont feel like that. To me he looked a little like the pillsbury doughboy gone a little stale. Obama had his beautiful smile and wholesome good looks.

In re substance - I didnt learn a lot that I didnt already know. However, I will continue to watch the debates. I look forward to each of them.

A friend of mine had a little get together for the debate which involved beer and pizza...so that was a great way to watch it. I'm more interested in watching the VP debate since Palin is my governor.