Helpful Hints To Spot The Losing Ticket....

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Tuesday October 21, 2008 · 6:05 AM PDT

2008/10/21 · 06:05

When you study for the priesthood (RC), you learn that aside from one's role as dispenser of the sacraments, your second most important role is as counselor. And to that end, the seminarian is trained in that specialty. You learn to become very attentive to not only what the person is saying but also to how they are saying it and what does their body language reveals. Having said that, I have always been acutely attuned to the way in which each side's surrogates comport themselves as the campaigns approach the finish line.

And to be honest, sometimes you don't need any formal training to spot the losing ticket.

In the first place, the losing side's surrogates are not prone to smiling very much. You can literally read their depression on their faces. They tend to knit their brows and seem to scowl much more often. And they seem to have this intensity in their eyes which makes one believe that they wished with all their might that it was already November 5 and they wouldn't have to endure this anymore.

Secondly, their quickness to snap at their interrogators or opponent's surrogates is on a hair trigger. They sneer at and belittle both of them. To say that they are on the defensive is understatement. They have, in fact, acquired a bunker mentality and are slowing sinking into a state of total denial.

And finally, along with that level of defensiveness, they have a tendency to take every negative attack line and talking point and form them into one giant-sized spit ball. Stand-up comics have a term for this syndrome. It's called flop sweat.

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