Bush and Body language

I had a 2:45AM wake-up last night so I could see the debates live and damn and I glad that I did. I couldn't fall asleep until after 5AM because my wife and I were talking and talking about how impressed we were with Kerry and how off Bush was. Both of us love to follow body language and have used it a lot in our careers and Bush provided a constant flow of surprising material all night.

John's earlier message about Kerry really made me think about who had what to win or lose going into it and despite what everyone in the media was saying about Kerry needing a homerun, I don't think that he needed a homerun. He needed to look like a guy America could trust and feel comfortable with for the next four years. On that account, he may not hit a homerun but he did everything necessary to make people believe in him. Kerry put Bush on the defensive from the start which sent Bush into a tailspin for a while. Kerry clearly angered Bush who tends to give away his feelings via his facial expressions and body language. In that department, Bush was a disastor. The cut-away shots on Bush told the story of Bush being a hot head and out of control. If you followed Kerry in those shots, he looked completely in control. Bush was rattled and it showed over and over at the beginning and near the end of the debate. Excellent job by Kerry in prompting those reactions by Bush.

The other thing to keep in mind is that this was Bush's chance to hit the homerun and put this race out of reach for Kerry. On that, he failed miserably. This was supposed to be his strongest moment in the debates and he looked like an angry, confused person while Kerry was looking the opposite. Hell, look at the moment that Bush is moving his notes around and it looks like he has pages and pages of scribbled notes that he was shuffling around in site of the TV cameras. If last night didn't get you excited about Kerry, you don't have a pulse. The man put his stamp on the campaign last night and little Georgie was frazzled.