The McCain team decided to compete for airtime with Obama by having their candidate deliver a set-piece speech in New Orleans last night. McCain paid generous tribute to Hillary Clinton (he clearly hopes to peel away disaffected Clinton supporters to his camp) and gave a reasonably clear outline of his positions versus Barack Obama.
But overall, it was probably a mistake to go head-to-head like this. The contrast with Obama, at his best in set-piece speeches, was striking. McCain is simply not very good in these situations. He's compelling and persuasive when speaking off-the-cuff. But behind a podium he sounds stilted, and nervous. He stares too intently at the autocue. His face twitches into the approximation of a smile at unexpected moments. He has a poor grasp of cadence, his voice rising and falling in all the wrong places. He often sounds bored by himself.
And what the hell is with that horrible green background?
One idea on the green background: green is the opposite colour to red. Thus, things placed in front of green seem more red by comparison. Thus, instead of pasty-white (and old), McCain can at least look rosy-cheeked.
(perhaps)
Posted by: Will M | June 04, 2008 at 11:13 PM
still looks kinda pasty and old to me...
mccain would be smarter not to start taking obama on yet, the democratic nomination may be "decided" but until she concedes clinton could still cause a lot of ruckus. the longer the democrats are tied up with in-fighting the better for mccain. by addressing obama as the nominee he gives him credibility where he could create more trouble for him by ignoring him or behaving as though the nomination is not settled yet. perhaps.
having said that, it's about time, and i'm glad that obama will be the nominee.
Posted by: zaac | June 05, 2008 at 03:53 PM
Actually, the green is so vivid it reflects back onto the candidate's skin. It's a really poor choice for anyone, but especially for someone who's already old and pale.
I think it was so they could greenscreen in some supporters if they wanted to. See the Colbert Report: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/stephen-colbert.html Minute 2:20
Posted by: afm | June 07, 2008 at 03:05 PM