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October 18, 2012

ISU prof: Disrespect stood out in presidential debate

Sue Loughlin The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — In Tuesday’s presidential debate, President Obama appeared much better prepared than he did for the Oct. 3 debate, while Mitt Romney consistently reinforced his message that he plans to add many new jobs to the U.S. economy.

But Romney also came across as “disrespectful of a sitting president and also disrespectful of the moderator,” said Mary Kahl, chairwoman of ISU’s department of communication, who was at Hofstra University when the town hall-style debate occurred.

As the debate took place, she was across Hofstra’s campus watching it via closed-circuit television in an auditorium with several hundred members of the public.

Overall, Kahl —  an expert in political communication — found that the candidates “both brought with them a greater ability to work with facts and numbers … and not just spew a laundry list that showed they had done intense debate preparation.”

Both Romney and Obama “provided substantive information in a way people could process and understand. I was grateful to see that,” said Kahl, who began her new duties at ISU in August. She was interviewed Wednesday by telephone.

Both “seemed very much in control of the facts and what they wanted to say to the audience. They also seemed more personable in that effort” with the town hall format, Kahl said.

She did find Romney, at times, disrespectful to Obama and moderator Candy Crowley of CNN. He interrupted the president during the president’s allotted time, and he also “tried to speak over Crowley” and get more rebuttal times in ways that were not within the rules of the debate.

Kahl did not view Obama as disrespectful of Romney. “I thought he accorded [Romney] as much respect as one would any debate opponent,” she said.

When Obama challenged some of Romney’s information as being incorrect, he walked toward the audience, smiled and was “not accusatory,” she said. “He did not turn and face Romney and get in his face.” His nonverbal actions tempered his sharp verbal comments, she said.

“President Obama seemed much better prepared for this debate” as opposed to the Oct. 3 debate in Denver, she said.

She also believes Romney did a good job of delivering the message he wanted to get out — that he would help turn the economy around and add millions of jobs. “He was very good and consistent about hammering that home at virtually every turn. Even if the question did not concern jobs,” he would bring it up, she said.

Kahl believes the town hall format “worked quite well,” although she “was surprised some of the questions were not more articulate.”

Debate organizers worked with citizens in terms of how to be on camera, “but they don’t necessarily constrain what they say. I don’t know why I had that expectation,” she said.

Kahl has been attending presidential debates — at least one every four years — since 1988. She conducts focus groups for DebateWatch, a voter outreach program of the Commission for Presidential Debates.

Hofstra University invited her to be present Tuesday. She and two faculty from other universities talked to several hundred people in the auditorium about how to watch a debate.

After the debate, the faculty members conducted a focus group with about 30 people, both Romney and Obama supporters.

“We tried to steer the conversation away from winners and losers,” Kahl said, “but it was the overall opinion of those in the focus group that Obama had been the better of the two [Tuesday] night.”

Focus group members also suggested Obama did a better job of “connecting with the audience in ways that seemed more real and genuine,” Kahl said.

Information from the focus group will be provided to the Commission on Presidential Debates.

For the next debate — scheduled for Monday in Boca Raton, Fla. — she believes Obama has the advantage because it will focus on foreign policy. Debates on foreign policy always work to the advantage of the sitting president, who has access to intelligence information that an opponent does not.

Kahl said she was glad to be part of the historical political event. “I’m eager to continue my research and add to the body of research on presidential debates.”

On a personal level, “It’s exciting to be involved in this wonderful exercise in civic engagement.”

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

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