learnandteachonline.com

Internet and TV commentary this morning is all about John McCain's refusal to address Barack Obama directly during last night's debate.

Check this out:

• Blog seach on "eye contact"
• Twitter search on "look at him" and McCain

It bothered me, too. It felt disrespectful, which makes me disagree with the monkey scientist who opined that McCain is the group member of low rank who fears meeting the gaze of his superior -- or others who equate lack of eye contact with lying. Don't think so.

A quick buzz through psychological ideas about eye contact didn't satisfy me, but the dictionary did.

I thought Eugene Robinson, the Washington Post columnist, better labeled what was really going on when he used the word "contempt," so I looked it up.

Reference.com's synonyms for contempt:

— Synonyms CONTEMPT, DISDAIN, SCORN imply strong feelings of disapproval and aversion toward what seems base, mean, or worthless. CONTEMPT is disapproval tinged with disgust: to feel contempt for a weakling. DISDAIN is a feeling that a person or thing is beneath one's dignity and unworthy of one's notice, respect, or concern: a disdain for crooked dealing. SCORN denotes open or undisguised contempt often combined with derision: He showed only scorn for those who were not as ambitious as himself.

That feels right. That's the key to what we were seeing last night. McCain demonstrated he believes Obama is beneath his notice. Voters will sense it on some level, and it won't sit well. We like the idea of gentlemanly behavior in elections and the notion of the worthy opponent.

A certain segment of undecided voters (.pdf file) will soak up McCain's scorn, add in his running mate's sneers at community organizer types, and find the product to be unappealing -- not something they'd be happy to buy and keep around for four years.