Winners and Losers

It's not often that I can put the Winner and Loser in the same video but hey, it happens. Last night's debate was interesting. I have to give John McCain his props. He did better than I expected for a guy who prefers town forum style meetings.

Anyway, my winner of the week, is Barack Obama. For a guy who has been hammered for not knowing foreign policy or not being experienced in it, I think he handled himself quite well.

Loser of the week goes to the "Bitter Beer Face" at 1:04 in this video. And then, who is McCain craning his neck to look at at 1:11? A lot is being said about the nonverbal communication in this debate. Besides the odd facial expressions by McCain, he never looked at Barack during the entire debate. That came off as awkward.

One last issue, we all know that a lot of what makes candidates successful is how they are marketed and promoted...you know, the image. However, I wish the following words and/or phrases could be banned from any future debates or appearances that get replayed on the news or elsewhere:
(In no particular order)
"I have a pen..."
"I will make them famous..."
"I am the candidate for change" (for both...obviously, either candidate technically is a change from Bush)
"maverick"
"First dude"
"Reformer"
"Drill, Baby, Drill"
"Community Organizer"
"Hockey mom"
"9/11"
"September 11th"

It just seems like whenever either candidate gets stuck, these catchphrases creep their way in to the speech or response.