Did Sarah, John, Barack and Joe show debating stress?
Author: DrJeffBailey Total views: 7 Word Count: 451
Having watched the presidential and vice presidential debates, and having an interest in stress, I started to wonder about the effects of this debate on the four people on the two tickets. Sarah Palin, John McCain, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden are the four contenders experiencing the stress. But what about the stress during the televised debates?
At stake in the debates is the possibility that they might win or lose voter's support. For anyone who has debated, the constant strain is saying something ridiculous. The two elements for debating are content and presentation and one must be expert in both areas.
Sarah, Joe, Barack, and John all have distinctive personal styles. Being coached by public speaking experts to take the rough edges off one's style can be extremely disconcerting and stressful. The pressure of the campaign and the need to develop a credible debating style adds to the stress. What changes must each person make?
Barack Obama has to portray an image of being closely connected with the people. He cannot be seen to be remote and theoretical as they want someone who is warm and understands them. To deal with this tension he promotes a new vision for America revolving around the concept of change.
John McCain has had a long term as a prisoner of war but this is not sufficient for many people. In fact, the danger is that they might see him as a war hawk when in fact he wants to be seen as a committed patriot. His age and medical condition are two factors which cause his team some anxiety as they try to downplay these potential limitations.
Joe Biden has 35 years as a senator so he has a huge amount of knowledge but perhaps too much to convey in a short time. As well, it is easy for people to see him as arrogant. Joe has to present himself as commonplace and one of the people.
Sarah Palin has to impress voters as having a national and international presence not simply as being a mom from middle America. Being able to say folksy words like 'doggone' and 'aint' might add down-home appeal but they limit her status as a high-level politician. Because she made such a bad showing at some televised interviews, the pressure for her was to appear well-informed.
The ever present stress during the debates for the four nominees was to limit any presumed weaknesses and present an attractive persona. Both personal weaknesses and information deficiencies were the areas that caused the strain for the four on these important tickets. America's voters watching the debates are the best ones to know how well they handled the debating stress and presented effectively in terms of information and style.
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About the Author
Dr Jeff, a psychologist, writes about stress. The televised debates of Sarah Palin, John McCain, Barak Obama and Joe Biden provided an opportunity to evaluate how much stress each nominee showed. Did they handle stress well? Check out Dr Jeff's free stress book. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory
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