October 12, 2008 3:34:34 PM CDT
(Newser) – With his small stature and tendency to stumble over words, John McCain struggles behind a podium, the New York Times notes. “The only time I would put him behind a podium at all” during the campaign “is when he’s announcing a policy position,” said his former communications director. McCain is now working with experts to improve his onstage presence, according to aides.
McCain’s speeches are riddled with “mechanical hand chops” and “weirdly timed smiles,” the Times observes. Comedian Stephen Colbert describes his style as “tired mayonnaise.” Meanwhile, Barack Obama's speeches frequently wow audiences. But some of McCain's stiffness might be an advantage. One staffer argues that “voters are looking for credibility and are wary of polish. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who can more deftly read a teleprompter.”
Source New York Times
35 minutes ago Three weeks after turning himself into a punch line by blowing off David Letterman, only to surface within hours elsewhere on CBS, John McCain has scheduled a return engagement with the late-night icon. After lengthy negotiations—during which Letterman continued his on-air taunting by saying McCain was being "squirrely"—they've made a date for Thursday, TV Guide reports. More »
1 hour, 1 minute ago "Barack Osama" appears on 300 Rensselaer County absentee ballots, and the upstate New York county’s government wants to know why. Legislators from both parties have ordered an investigation into the board of elections, which prints its own ballots rather than contracting out the work. The board says at least four proofreaders—two Republicans and two Democrats—missed the misspelling, reports the Albany Times Union. More »
2 hours, 30 minutes ago The Sunshine State is looking cloudy for John McCain, whose risky moves could cost him Florida, just as Rudy Giuliani's posturing sank him in the primary, novelist Carl Hiaasen writes for the Miami Herald. Polls show McCain forfeiting his lead, and his running mate isn't helping. Sarah Palin, Hiaasen snipes, "calls herself a pit bull but she's really just a pit poodle." More »
2 hours, 52 minutes ago Beware, trick or treaters: John McCain and Barack Obama may be hiding behind that bandanna and eyepatch. Asked about their favorite childhood Halloween costumes in separate interviews for Nickelodeon, both candidates answered "pirate," the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Obama called his getup "the best costume of all time." McCain joked that he'd like to "put my costume on and take my sword out" and get some fellow Senators back in line. More »
3 hours, 49 minutes ago Barack Obama has widened his lead to 6 points in a four-day Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll, taking 49% to John McCain’s 43% among likely voters, Reuters reports. As economic woes weigh on voters’ minds, Obama is leading by 21 points among independent voters, the poll found. The Illinois senator also tops McCain among women by 12 points, while the candidates are tied at 45% among men. More »
Barack Obama • John McCain • Election 2008 • speech • style
