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Edited on Tue Oct-10-06 12:27 AM by Awsi Dooger
As others mentioned, he often shortened his replies and once gave up his reply time completely. He also has a habit of keeping his head down and not making eye contact.
The part that frustrated me was when Webb repeated the same question to Webb as a previous debate, why he voted to raise his own salary yet voted against hiking the minimum wage. Allen was prepared for that topic and launched a long reply that made it appear he supported the increase in the minimum wage. Webb should have formed the question differently in regard to a standalone raise in the minimum wage, to put Allen on the defensive.
Also, Webb's other candidate-to-candidate question was bizarre. It dealt with an island and Allen quickly said he would have to study the issue before responding. Webb was stuck at that point and awkwardly tried to describe what the issue was. No doubt the viewers had no idea about the specific issue, so no matter what Allen had said it wasn't going to have impact. You want your candidate-to-candidate questions to be on a high profile issue that will resonate and change minds. No one was going to give a damn about the issue Webb picked. Allen, in contrast, used a simple question regarding the number of Virginians impacted by a tax decrease. When Webb didn't have the number, Allen slipped it in, 3 million. It was probably misleading bullshit but that's what you want in a candidate-to-candidate question, something that puts the other guy on the defensive and a basic topic like taxes.
Webb's closing remark was very effective, and he was able to give it last. So let's hope it pulled out the debate in Webb's favor. But overall as a debater, Jim Webb is no Jon Tester.
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