DebateScoop Noted on Newsweek.com
Newsweek.com links to debatescoop.com in an interview with Allan Louden "Decoding the Debate" discussing the Ohio Tuesday debate featuring Obama and Clinton.
Update [2008-2-28 15:38:12 by Ross Smith]: By all means, click the link and read the whole thing. Allan doesn't toot his own horn enough, so to whet your appetite, here's an excerpt proving that this is the kind of analysis you rarely hear elsewhere:
Does this type of debate format put one of them in a better light?Free flowing format was better for both of them. But there’s always a tension between talking too much and not enough. There was one point on health care when she just went on and on, while later in the debate on foreign policy, he went on and on. We often see holding the floor as dominance, but that can be perceptual. Back in the Cheney-Lieberman debate, Cheney spoke about 20 percent less than Lieberman did, but the perception was that he spoke more. With the format, because there is turn-taking and politeness factors, much judgment is not about the content or the person’s character, but about how they interact on a personal level. So, pulling a chair out, patting a hand, looking at each other, and that includes turn-taking—showing you know when to quit talking. In that sense, the open format allows relational thing to play out. And I think they both handled that well.
