Who won the first debate?

Who “won” the first US presidential debate? Democrat John Kerry looked better and sounded better than Republican President George W Bush, but in other ways the latter may have made a better impression. Kerry spoke in a deep voice, exuding calm and reassurance. He talked at an even-keeled pace. In contrast Bush was sometimes high-pitched bordering on squeakiness. He spoke fairly quickly, this speed often coming across more as nervousness than as his usual confident folksiness.  

For one who normally has trouble keeping even his eyes focussed in one place, much less his opinions, Kerry was surprisingly able to seem steady. Some politicians declare to the world ideals as if they are still actually trying  to convince themselves of the words coming out of their mouths. Kerry seemed on balance to be overcoming this possible defect. Bush may have seemed less persuasive to others than was Kerry, but as before Bush still showed that he fully believes in what he says — right or wrong. Early in the debate Kerry came across as being more “presidential” as the Americans like to call statesmanlike. Kerry had a huge advantage in his physical appearance over Bush. Kerry wore a dark suit that made him stand out against the medium blue background of the studio, better than did Bush in his blue suit.
    
Just a slight difference of shade made a huge difference of impact. Even the red tie of Kerry highlighted him better than the blue tie of Bush. Bush practically repeated the same error made by the Republicans in the infamous 1960s debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon when JFK also scored points for looking sharp and crisp by wearing a dark suit against the light background of the tv studio, while Nixon wore a too light suit. Statistics show that US presidential elections are usually won by the taller candidate. Kerry had a clear advantage over Bush.  NBC showed both candidates together on a split screen, to the disadvantage of the shorter Bush. Even when the tv screen adjusted the positions of both men to have the tops of their heads reach the same height, the screen also showed much “more” of Kerry — ie by being taller, he has a longer torso, and so more filled out the tv screen and made more visual impact. Despite every aspect of the studio layout being hotly negotiated by each party before the debate, this was one visual disadvantage which the Republicans neglected to neutralise.

Kerry’s head is longer than Bush’s, and that made him look even taller than Bush than he actually is. One of the greatest errors that Bush, when off-camera, made right through the debate was by showing what my mother would call a “peeved” look on his face. As Kerry spoke with his head ramrod erect, Bush front-on to the camera with head dipped looked like something was bothering him. My wife, if she had seen the debate, would surely have described Bush as looked like a “rumbo.” Again Bush was repeating the errors of Nixon (who when debating JFK) in his off-screen shots had looked shifty and nervous, his eyes darting about making “Tricky Dicky” looked uncomfortable and miffed.

Thank God that Bush had shaved on Thursday and had not repeated Nixon’s error in losing visual appeal by refusing to first shave but rather cover his razor stubble with a cream called “Lazy Shave” which began to “run” under the hot studio lights. For an intellectual viewer Kerry put across his ideas better by properly structuring his arguments which were flowing and detailed. But a journalist might criticise Kerry for in fact using sentences that were too long compared to Bush’s and for relying on a string of three or four such long-sentences to get his point across. In contrast Bush used very short sentences and simple but vivid words to get across his ideas. In fact whereas Kerry tried to convey his ideas in abstract, Bush tried to make you feel such emotions as being a tough guy — “We’ll chase down the terrorists.”

Bush is a master of the sound-bite. It’s possible that his quotes were more likely to be remembered days after the debate by the average American than the elaborate explanations of Kerry. One of Bush’s best assets was the appearance of First Lady Laura Bush, who looked more attractive, personable and healthy than Kerry’s wife, Theresa Heinz Kerry.