belying indecision

  I thought Obama did well last night in the forum that was supposed to favor McCain. McCain's jokes were oh, so flat--he hunches his shoulders and laughs at them before he even delivers them. And then they're not funny. Oh, and the moment he referred to Obama as "that one" was stellar. He might as well have said "You know who voted for it? That terrorist-loving negro!"  Just forehead slapping. In contrast, Obama's comment about a wheel falling off the straight talk express was well delivered and quite funny. Maybe I'm just revealing my bias.

And speaking of which, for an audience supposedly full of undecideds, I thought it was quite obvious which candidate was favored by certain individuals in the audience. A couple of the bald white men trembled with pleasure, their glasses quaking just a little bit when McCain walked close to them (I would argue too close--he looked like he was going to climb into the petty officer's lap at one point, or at least give him the special hug he reserves only for W), and at the end these same fellows shook hands with Obama for the briefest possible second and never looked at him. And then--then, there was the woman in blue. There she is, right there, circled in the photo below, gazing adoringly at the Obamas, like a 1960s teenager just home from a Beatles concert.

Does anyone else remember her?

We know from the introductory remarks that the town hall audience was asked to behave with restraint--no applause, no calling out. And yet what that meant was that the Obama fan in blue was about to lose a wheel herself from all the restraint. She was quite often in the shot when Obama was answering questions, and she looked like she was on the brink of standing up and shouting "I am sorry Mr. Brokaw, but OMYGOD OBAMA is our MAN, and he's STANDING RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME!" When Obama got off a good zinger at McCain or delivered a particularly impressive answer, her eyes widened, her mouth spread gleefully, and her head pulled back. She would have looked around at her fellow townspeople to see if they got that, but her eyes were stuck on Obama. When McCain was talking, she looked around, bored, probably wondering what those lights on the floor were for. And then, post debate, when Obama came close to her section, she pulled out her standard-issue disposable camera, snapped one shot, and then slid it away, always keeping that free eye on the man she hopes with all her heart will be our next president.

Undecided, my ass. Indeed, I would offer that the photo above reveals nearly everyone's preference. The guy in the tie beside the obama fan is looking fondly at McCain. The woman to her left is craning her neck just a little for a better view of Obamas. The woman in front of the obama fan with the black blazer and cool glasses is following Obama with her eyes, while the woman in front of her (same back blazer) has just snapped a picture of the McCains. It's less clear who the guy in the upper left corner is shooting with his disposable camera--maybe he likes Tom Brokaw.

Comments

[Charlotte]

I noticed the woman in blue, too! Maybe, in fact, donning the color blue was a message as subtle as her smiles. Delightful post.

[c...]

had the same thought about the woman in blue and about McCain's excessive proximity. Early on, a few people seemed almost to shy away from him. I also though body language was *super* telling in the already much discussed "you'd probably never heard of fannie mae and freddie mac" comment. It was like you were just watching the guy become an Obama supporter in that moment.

[dhawhee]

oh, right. I remember that moment. I was all, come ON! who is to say this guy wasn't a finance major? The bodily aspect of the town-hall setup is far, far more interesting than the podiums (podia?) on stages.

[km]

great post! i still can't get over the amount of disposable cameras in n-ville!

[kseas]

Thanks for voicing - if only in passing - the tenor of McCain's "that one" comment that I had picked up on too: the underlying racism. "That one" was not only dismissive of Obama, but carried a kind of disgust mixed with ... I don't know how to describe it. Maybe objectification - by rendering Obama a thing rather than a person? I was stunned by the flippancy and the undercurrent of malice in those two words.

But I thought my reading was just influenced by the Daily Show from the night before, when one of the reporters interviewed locals in Wasilla about the VP debate (http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=186790&title=debate-analysis-from-wasilla). Scary stuff.

[LisaN]

Love the writing as well. "tremble with pleasure" indeed! I will have to remember that one, hopefully I will have some call to use it in the near future. Also, love the visual analysis. you should have been a film professor debbie hawhee.

[dhawhee]

LN: wow, a huge compliment coming from you. :) sometimes i think a focus on bodily rhetoric converges nicely with film and visual analysis. i'm so sensitive to gestures and movements and faces that it's sometimes debilitating, though.

[Yogita]

What a lovely, cathartic post!! Yes, even though I am only an immigrant from India watching the debates the allegiances of the audience members (and, if I may add, the moderator) were pretty evident.

[Flavia]

Oh yes: I saw her too. Although really, it was the moustache and vaguely Civil War-ishness of the guy next to her that *I* was obsessed with (ask E!).