The Debate, Round 1, Lack of Eye Contact By McCain

At no point did McCain even look at Obama. Obama looked at McCain many times, but McCain never looked at Obama. There is a bit of conversation going on now about whether this is contempt, or self righteousness, or something worse. Does McCain think that Obama has no right to be there? Does he think that he is being "put out" by having to debate? Does he feel like he doesn't need to explain his positions?

I thought this through most of the debate, jumping around, but mostly getting the feeling of contempt and anger. But then, it dawned on me.

He was afraid.

There was a reason in college that I didn't look women in the eye for a few years, because I was terrified of them (i got over it obviously). There is a reason why a submissive animal, like a low ranking wolf will not look at the Alpha, and the same behavior exists in most primates as well. It's because of knowing your place in the hierarchy, and fear, that they superior will take your look as a sign of aggression.

Of course I don't mean that McCain is afraid of Obama in a physical sense (at least I assume not), but that he is afraid of him nevertheless. You don't look the guy in the eye who is pointing a gun at you because you don't want to piss him off and cause him to shoot you, though the reality is that looking him in the eye might be the thing that saves you sometimes. It's a subconscious thing, you generally can't control it. If you feel like the person you are speaking with is vastly superior to you, in an important situation, you are going to bow down before them, by not making eye contact.

It happens in business all the time. I get it when I meet with a client and there is a "technical guy" in the meeting. Often he will not make eye contact, and I immediately know the situation, which is, the guy doesn't know shit about what he is supposed to be doing in his job. On the flipside, if the guy makes eye contact, looking right at me when I speak, I know that I can start talking up in level detail and technospeak, because he is able to follow, or at least knows his business, and will probably be comfortable asking questions when I mention something unknown to him.

That was what it felt like. I put myself in Obama's shoes and realized that I was in a meeting with one of those "technical guys" who doesn't know anything and is terrified I will expose his lack of knowledge to his boss. The usual result is an employee that lashes out, claims that I am an idiot, wrong, ignorant, whatever, because they are trying to defend themselves, ironically against a threat that isn't there. As a side note, I would always go to bat for an existing employee, as long as they are will to learn and improve, since it's cheaper for the company to keep trained staff, than to train new staff.

So now, the entire campaign for the past few weeks/months has just open up before my eyes (pun intended). McCain is scared to death of Obama.