McCain and courtesy

My Dad was born and raised in small towns, and lives in one still, and is a guy who has always been big on common courtesy. As an elementary school teacher, he made sure that every kid coming through his classroom knew how to shake hands, look someone in the eye, introduce themselves politely. He made sure that my brothers and I got the same lessons. He is a Democrat, but by no means a raging partisan. I spoke to him on the phone this morning, and he told me that he was absolutely disgusted with McCain's rudeness in not once making eye-contact with Obama or addressing him during the debate.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are some "small town values" other than those the cultural conservatives like to speak about. Values like courtesy, making eye-contact, a good handshake, not being openly hostile or condescending. These are values necessary to get along in a community where people know one another and interact regularly. Two points come out of this that are relevant to the election:

The first is that Obama, despite hailing from a big city, needed to understand and live out those values to be effective as a community organizer and local candidate in his Hyde Park neighborhood. McCain's first run for elective office was for Congress, and he came in as a celebrity candidate- a war hero, friend of the Reagans... not somebody who had to really get to know the folks in the neighborhood (and as the husband of a multi-millionaire probably never had to).

The second point is that there are many voters for whom values like courtesy are very important, and I think that McCain may have lost quite a few of them last night.