posted                      

THE FINAL ... "FACE OFF"

quote:

---

Tonight is the last presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama. And while there deservedly will be a heavy focus on the worldwide economic meltdown, the theme of the night's subplot is "Say it to my face."

McCain, his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and their surrogates have spent the past 10 days alleging, in Palin's words, that Obama was "palling around" with former 1960s radical and current University of Illinois at Chicago Professor William Ayers. Conservatives continued this diversionary line of attack even though Obama was learning his multiplication tables when Ayers' Weather Underground compatriots were bombing government buildings.

Last week, Obama told ABC's Charlie Gibson that "I am surprised that, you know, we've been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days, that he wasn't willing to say it to my face" at their Oct. 7 debate.

On Tuesday, McCain told a St. Louis radio station that "I was astonished to hear him (Obama) say that he was surprised that I didn't have the guts to do that. I think he's probably assured that it's going to come up this time."

It's as if Obama was baiting McCain to mention Ayers tonight.

"If McCain does attack, it is a telegraphed pitch," said Aaron Zelinsky, editor of PresidentialDebateBlog.com, a repository of academic commentary on the presidential debates. "The Obama campaign has had all the time in the world to figure out a response to it, so I'd be careful, if I were McCain, of going there."

The challenge to any sort of nasty back-and-forths will be the setting: Both candidates and moderator Bob Schieffer will be seated near each other at a table. With few exceptions, candidates have traditionally been reluctant to throw a metaphorical haymaker punch within literal haymaker distance of their opponent.

Here's your guide as to what to look for in tonight's debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. It begins at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, plus CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC and KICU (Channel 36 in the Bay Area).

As Zelinsky suggests: Turn off your TV when the debate is over. Discuss what happened with others - in person, online or over the phone - instead of becoming seasick in the post-debate "spin room."

The setting and structure

Two-minute answers, followed by five-minute discussion of each question. Two-minute closing statements. The candidates will be seated at a table. The focus will be on domestic issues.

"Sitting at the table helps McCain with the wandering around thing he was doing at the second debate," said Nichola Gutgold, associate professor of communication at Penn State University and author of "Paving the Way for Madam President." "But sitting down also gives him better visuals. Nobody wants to be seen standing next to someone long and lean, like Obama."

The moderator

Bob Schieffer, 71, a veteran Beltway journalist, longtime host of CBS' "Face the Nation" and moderator of the third John Kerry-George W. Bush debate in 2004. He's avuncular, with a dry, self-deprecating wit - and probably not the guy who will press a lot of follow-up questions, despite saying, "My guess is that I'll have to get in there and ask them some follow-up questions."

"No, he won't, because they never do (press follow-up questions)," said Andrew Tyndall, publisher of the Tyndall Report, which analyzes network news programs. "Cajoling didn't work for (first debate moderator Jim) Lehrer, and petulance didn't work for (second debate moderator Tom) Brokaw."

The target audience

The roughly 7 to 8 percent of voters who pollsters say haven't made up their minds - even after the rest of the nation is ready to vote after 11/2 years of the presidential campaign. There's a particular focus on anyone living in swing states such as Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Missouri, Virginia and, of course, Florida. Can the TV audience top the 66 million viewers who watched the second presidential debate? That was a 21 percent increase over their first debate and the highest viewership since the second Bush-Clinton-Perot confab in 1992. Will it match the year's political blockbuster: the 70 million who watched the vice presidential debate?

The third debate is the Goldilocks debate

Al Gore was too hot in his first 2000 debate with George W. Bush, too cold in the second and just right in the third. "But by the time he got to the porridge, there was nobody home," Zelinsky said. "Nobody ever remembers the third debate."

Yet third debates are traditionally a chance for the candidates who are behind to correct their performance flaws and front-runners to seal the deal. Richard Nixon appeared less sweaty and more watchable in his third debate with John Kennedy in 1960. But he still lost.

What McCain must do

-- "Come across as forceful, direct and caring. He was meandering in the last debate," Zelinsky said. Carefully lay out new economic plan.

-- Forget the jokes - most bombed in the second debate.

-- Be respectful of "that one" (Obama) - it will help to attract independent, undecided voters.

-- Be more likable, Gutgold said. "It would help to renounce all the attacks of the past couple of weeks."

-- Be careful of verbal tics: "My friends" and "I can do that."

What Obama must do

-- Connect passionately with viewers. "Stop acting like a professor and start acting like one of the guys," said David Bartlett, communications consultant and author of "Making Your Point: Communicating Effectively with Audiences of One to One Million."

-- Answer the Ayers attack directly and forcefully.

-- Don't get rattled if McCain empties his attack quiver.

-- Appear presidential and reassuring as he explains his new economic plan.

The secret debate memo

Why the campaigns don't want you to see it:

The campaigns have refused to release their 31-page memorandum of understanding about the debates, which covers everything from how long each candidate may speak to whether there will be follow-up questions. "If these campaigns were truly committed to transparency and the rule of law, they should start where it counts: at home," Zelinsky wrote in a Chronicle opinion piece this week.

The ACORN doesn't fall far from the tree

McCain probably will try to link Obama to the activities of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which has registered 1.3 million new voters this year in 21 states and whose political arm supports Obama. Long a conservative target, investigators in several states are looking into the group's connection to possible registration improprieties. McCain probably will mention a Cleveland man whom ACORN canvassers allegedly persuaded to sign 73 voter registration forms over a five-month period. The Obama campaign says this is a last-ditch diversionary tactic from the GOP.

-- Obama taught two unpaid one-hour seminars to the group in the mid-1990s. McCain spoke at a rally in 2006 co-sponsored by ACORN.

-- The Obama campaign paid $832,598 to Citizens Services Inc., which contracts with ACORN, to canvass voters in large states like Texas during the primary. CSI did not register voters, the Obama campaign said.

To Ayers is human, to use him as an attack - divine?

"Absolutely," Bartlett said. "It is last chance to do so. He has to define Obama. And he has to raise fears about the safety of voting for Obama. It's like the old Cold War question: Would you feel safe with this guy's hand on the button?"

Hackneyed football metaphors

For McCain's debate strategy: He's got to complete a "Hail Mary" pass to get voters to pay attention to his campaign.

For Obama's debate strategy: There are four minutes left in the game, and he's got to hold on to the football, run out the clock and not fumble.
Important topics we haven't heard about

Viewers haven't heard much about these topics in the debates so far, and they probably won't tonight because of all the side attacks:

-- The plight of the poor in America.

-- Immigration reform.

-- Equal pay for women.

-- How to improve public education.

-- Teaching evolution versus intelligent design in the public schools.

"You want to go after the nervous demographic, and that's the middle class," Zelinsky said. "They're the group that's most concerned right now with what's going on with the economy."

Who else could win this?

Other presidential candidates who are on enough state ballots to acquire the 270 electoral votes needed to be elected, but weren't invited to any debates:

Constitution Party: Chuck Baldwin

Green Party: Cynthia McKinney

Independent: Ralph Nader

Libertarian Party: Bob Barr

Spin-time tip

If you're foolish enough to watch coverage from the post-debate "spin room," how you'll know if a spinmeister feels their candidate did poorly: Even though they'll predictably say that their man "won the debate," Tyndall said, "they will also be blaming the moderator."

Debate techniques

Speech communication expert and author Ruth Sherman says that if both John McCain and Barack Obama have been properly coached for tonight's debate, viewers should see tried-and-true speech tips and techniques designed to maximize performance. Among them:

Bridging - Used to avoid answering directly and pivot to one's main messages. Example: "I understand your point. The more important issue is ... (insert key message)" or "No. I'd like to explain ... (insert key message)."

Hedging - Used to give oneself more time. Example: "In what respect?" or "What do you mean?" or "Can you clarify your question?"

Hooking - Used to influence follow-up questions: Example: "In Alaska, we are well aware of the effects of energy exploration and have implemented major programs that protect our wilderness and our citizens." (Logical follow-up: "What programs?")

Flagging - Used to increase message retention by emphasizing or prioritizing. Example: "The most important thing to remember today is ..." or "I think it boils down to these three issues ..." or "I want to emphasize that ..."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/14/MNTT13H4GU.DTL

---

SHOULD BE FUN!

Posts: 1819 | From: odesco baba | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged |