Town Halls vs. Debate Halls

Monday, June 16, 2008 | 4:50 PM

By Sarah Scully
We know Obama will bring a gun to a knife fight, but what will he bring to a town hall?
Barack Obama's campaign has rebuffed John McCain's proposal for a series of several joint town hall style discussions and instead suggested one town hall and one additional in-depth debate on foreign policy. You may wonder why the difference between the two formats is so important and the argument so contentious- It all breaks down to the divergent strengths of each candidate. As the primary season revealed, Obama's gifts are best displayed when delivering prepared remarks to large crowds. His debate performances did him no favors and he was only able to improve after repeated practice and study. With such a meticulously organized campaign and carefully calibrated candidate, bulking up an already packed calendar with nearly a dozen town halls that the candidate is not used to and might not shine at and on the rival's terms no less, could be too great a risk. He's ahead in the polls and gaining momentum so why mess with a winning strategy? Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe argued that McCain is just using the matter to play politics. That said, the reluctance to participate in such an open and democratic forum has given rise to criticism, putting the senator's camp on the defensive and giving McCain even more motivation to keep pushing. McCain's campaign is presently getting a lot of mileage out the wisecrack from their spokesman Tucker Bounds: "Barack Obama requires more preconditions to meet with voters and John McCain than he does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."
Whereas it's unclear how well Obama would perform in a town hall, answering questions from audience members in Midwestern elementary school gymnasiums is John McCain's strong suit. He seems most comfortable (and as a result, at his best) when engaged in informal chats with small crowds. He dispenses jokes like a vaudevillian and handles protestors with ease. McCain's campaign does not have the money or structure to even try to compete with Obama's phenomenal popularity so another practical consideration in inviting The Obama Show into his world is the free publicity to show-off their own candidate's humor and ability to connect to voters, particularly veterans, with genuine compassion. Usually, when most of the world sees McCain, it is in his worst venue. As Peggy Noonan describes in her very funny, must read article, reading a teleprompter from behind a podium is just not in his skill set. Having a firing line of pundits in front of him would only exacerbate his unease. These candidates are mirror images of each other, it's no wonder they cannot agree on a format. Until they do, my guess is, McCain will continue to make hay of this chance to discredit Obama, while Obama will largely ignore him, letting his campaign respond as he continues on with his youth powered, celebrity swamped, well-financed juggernaut.