WATCHING THE DEBATE IS DIFFERENT FROM LISTENING TO IT.

Part of the problem I have watching debates is that sometimes, because of live-blogging, I spend more time listening to them than watching them, and I miss what is happening visually. This is political cliche after Kennedy-Nixon, but it's really true that you get a different sense of the debate from listening rather than watching. After last night's debate, I thought McCain did well until I started looking at the clips of important moments. McCain was brimming with contempt. The Republican base loves this -- they think Obama is deserving of contempt. Likewise, many liberals want to see Obama slam McCain rather than letting McCain pummel him every debate.

The problem is that McCain's contempt doesn't just come across as contempt for Obama. Last night, on taxes, McCain sounded somewhat weird putting up those bizarre air quotes around "spread the wealth," after Americans just spread $700 billion around the financial sector. "Spreading the wealth" probably sounds like a good idea to some people. When McCain said "Americans are angry," he really just looked like he was angry about losing. When Obama said abortion was a "moral issue," he also said there must be exceptions that allow late-term abortions to preserve the life of the mother. He was triangulating on abortion the way that liberals who run for president do. He was careful to say he understood the other side, and didn't ascribe to them any ill will. McCain, believing he was at a Palin rally rather than a debate, threw up air quotes around "health of the mother," as though this was some kind of elaborate trick that women pull just so they can kill their babies. 

But of course, he was just impatient with an argument he feels he's had a million times. He wanted to be dismissive of Obama, and instead he sounded dismissive of women in general. He did this throughout the debate -- seeming more interested in making Obama feel bad than earning any votes, and probably ended up alienating people who might be inclined to agree with him.

The way political observers watch debate is skewed by the idea that a debate is some kind of duel at high noon. It isn't. It's a beauty contest, and voters, like G-d, don't like ugly. One of the candidates seems to have figured this out.

--A. Serwer