Thursday, October 09, 2008

"That One"

The Nightly Build...

May I Have a Word? That One

If Americans know one thing about the second Presidential debate, it's that John McCain pointed at Barack Obama and sneered "That One" to identify Obama as the culprit for some horrendous Washington failing or other.

When I heard it real time, it made an impression, but I didn't consider it offensive and I certainly didn't expect it to be the most replayed line of the debate. Jarrett Rush, in The Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, tends to dismiss the comment altogether, but perhaps for the wrong reason.

"The 'that one' comment was a slip. It don't think it was meant in disrespect or anger. These guys are so over-coached for these things that they are thinking about 50 words ahead of what they are saying. There was nothing behind it."
I don't think the slip is important, but I also wouldn't say there was nothing behind it. Some people think it's the slips that reveal the only genuine insights into these candidates at these debates. Everything else, over-coached as it is, is Kabuki. McCain's slip gave the audience a peek behind the mask and the audience didn't like what it saw there.

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