Did Sarah, John, Barack and Joe show debating stress?

Posted by Rowena French

October 12, 2008

by Dr Jeff Bailey

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?

The first major stressor during debates is the ultimate victory or loss. At the back of their mind must be the constant fear that they might make an incredible blunder. With the dual pressure of handling content intelligently and presenting oneself as a credible and attractive person comes great strain.

The four people on the two tickets all have different personal styles. You can be sure that in the background there were many public speaking experts coaching our four contenders. The requirement to adapt and become an adept speaker in a short timeframe must be a burden. How must each person change?

Barack Obama has the potential to be too distant and theoretical. This is not an appealing feature on the campaign trail when Middle America is looking for someone who is connected, down-to-earth, and like them. He has used the theme of change as his way of reaching everyone, especially the disaffected and the young.

John McCain is always in danger of being seen as a war hawk because of his position on Iraq and his constant claim about his prisoner of war status. His campaign position is about patriotism and loving America. His age and medical condition are factors that would present him with some stress when seen on the national podium.

Joe Biden has the constant tension of having a huge amount of experience and has the pressure of trying to present this accurately and in a digestible way. Some pundits suggest that Joe is too arrogant. Voters like to think that their politicians are like themselves and this is Joe’s pressure.

Sarah Palin has to choose between being folksy and from a small community and being credible on the national and international scene. What makes her appealing is her cute mannerisms, her winking, her ‘doggones’ and ‘aints’ but these are also limitations. Her additional stress was to appear informed after some of her disastrous earlier interviews.

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.

About the Author:

Dr Jeff, a psychologist, writes about stress. The televised debates of Sarah Palin, John McCain, Barak Obama and Joe Biden gave an opportunity to evaluate how much stress each nominee experienced. Did they manage stress effectively? Check out Dr Jeff’s free stress book.

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