Do Interviewers Disagree?

Take a look at these judgements of the third presidential debate.

McCain looked and sounded like a man who is floundering and doesn't know what to do about it. -- Editorial, The Age (Australia)

In my mind McCain won the last debate by some margin -- Ron Liddle, TimesOnline (England)

Presumably both writers are well-informed, politically. Liddle, who supports Obama, was a speechwriter for the Labour party in England. And, yet, they disagree.

What could possibly account for it? And does this disagreement reflect something that might happen when a candidate meets a number of stakeholders within the same firm?

Comment by Steve Levy on October 20, 2008 at 1:25pm: Personal likes and dislikes always cloud first, second and third impressions as well as decisions. Some folks laugh at our jokes, others wonder if we're permanently stuck in puberty. Some people are easily swayed by the smallest positive or negative sentiment and then become lodged in a polarized position. And very few are equipped to assess the "data" presented to them by politicians by objectively investigating sources and contexts.

For instance, I just received one of those mass emails about one of the candidates wherein lines in a book were taken out of context. Most, I suppose, would just forward on to others; I investigated and found it all a bunch of bullspit. And I do this for candidates not of my party preference.

Highly effective interviewing requires some "deprogramming" for all members of a panel or interview slate but who's going to listen to a silly old recruiter preach objectiveness?