Bush Debate Debacle Analyzed
by John C. Dvorak

Podium Height is the problem

In the world of TV there is a unit of measurement called an apple crate. This is, in fact, a variety of heavy duty apple-crate-like wood boxes, painted black, that are used to equalize the height of participants in talk shows where people have to stand next to each other. You stand on them. Typically you find a quarter, half, three quarters and the full crate which is only used for very short women. Apparently the media consultants who work for the Bush campaign were unaware of this trick or they just didn’t care when they agreed to a fixed podium height and “no risers.” If they were going to agree to this then Bush should have at least worn elevator shoes to pick up an inch. As you can see from the time slice photos I took from the debate (standard def) Bush could have used a half crate to come up to the height of Kerry. How the Bush people, who dominated the debate rules, didn’t get this right, is mystifying unless someone is trying to sink the campaign from within.

The psychological effect on the viewer is immediate. It’s part of the reason that talk show hosts are lifted about four inches higher than guests. It creates a sub-conscious recognition of dominance. In the case of Bush-Kerry it makes Bush look like a little kid at the dinner table, wimpy, submissive. His demeanor re-enforced this with his pauses and simplistic answers. In some shots (as I show) he looks like a reticent or sometimes angry child.

Kerry, on the other hand, is perfectly positioned with the podium height. His tie is almost completely visible and he looks like the dad while Bush looks like the son. It’s the side-by-side camera shots where they put the two feeds together where this is made obvious to everyone. I’m actually shocked that none of the nit-picking bloggers (who over-analyze everything) have not picked up on this since it is so obvious. But they haven’t. The side-by-side shot also has one other subtle subconscious message. Bush is trying to hide something. In these two-shots there is probably 15-percent more Kerry on screen than Bush.

Furthermore, as shown in the photos below many, if not most, of Bush’s hand gestures were never seen. They were below the camera-line-of-sight and blocked by the podium. Kerry was seen gesturing openly, even from some distant shots.

This sort of gaffe is inexcuseable, especially with Bush who seemed ill-prepared for the debate and needed an edge. If the Bush people had negotiated for a podium that was amenable to the Bush height and thus lowered four inches, then Bush would have looked normal and Kerry would have looked like a gawky goofball, too tall for the venue. This was a major strategic blunder and a blown opportunity.

While the debate rules are supposedly set in stone, I am sure that the Bush team will try and renegotiate the terms. Or they should. If they don’t, then they’re fools or working against the campaign from within. In fact it would be more fair if the President were on a box, but then he could be ridiculed for that too. This is now a no-win situation because someone made a huge error that could cost the election. This isn’t rocket science, it’s broadcasting.