Presidential Candidates and Body Language

I watched the second presidential debate. I reverted to truly watching the candidates. I found the body language far more interesting. Body language is the non-verbal body movements used as part of our communication, from the waving hands to involuntary twitching of facial muscles. It's just that nonverbal communication is between 60 to 75% of the impact of a message. Senator McCain was the more fascinating and animated, than Senator Obama.

There's a lot out on the internet about body language, the candidates, and the debates. I was looking at the subject as a voter. There was a remarkable display of twitches, smirks and jaw-clenches that raced across John McCain's face throughout the debate. He had a real lack of eye contact, particularly his unwillingness to look Obama in the eye. He just looked plain angry, annoyed and/or craggy. The Senator looked like he wanted to be someplace other than at the debate. He looked really uncomfortable with the format, even though McCain requested the town hall meetings. His movements were awkward, but I could tell if he was in pain or the result of his prior injuries. McCain did do a lot of smirking and jaw-clenching especially when Obama spoke. The only real moment of connection with the audience was when he patted the prior service member on the back. I saw the jabbing finger across his chest motion toward Obama, and learned later of the "That one" comment. That action was very powerful to watch. When Obama looked Mc Cain in the eye, McCain turned away. When Obama approached McCain for a handshake, McCain shunted him aside, having him shake hands with Cindy. Cindy had walked around the hall with her hands behind her back. The McCains left the debate hall very quickly.

Senator Obama seemed to relax when he realized how uncomfortable McCain was. There was no love loss between the two at the first handshake. Obama had his hand extended first. There were no hugs or back pats. Obama looked attentive and ready to respond more than the first debate. Obama seemed to engage the crowd easily and more. He seemed to be in his element as the debates went on. Obama seemed to stay cool and collected. Obama engaged in his share of digs. If you watched C-Span, the Obamas were relaxed at the end of the debate enough to stay, talk and take pictures.