And it made a terrible little slurping sound when he did it. Ewwww.

Bob and Tony -- YESSSSSSSSSSS, McCain HAS been doing both all along. Add to that his nasty eye twitch, and he's more and more like Herbert Lom's character in The Pink Panther movies. And then, ADD to the above, Sarah Palin's habit of smacking her lips constantly....how very Presidential and Vice-Presidential, huh?

Add that to the motionless upper lip! Plus, great example of "staying on message" -- he kept hammering the "preconditions" argument, like it was some sort of key ingredient before one makes brownies. "I'm amazed that Sen. Obama still thinks he can make brownies without baking powder. That's just incredibly naive." Plain Sarah was caught saying basically the same thing the other day re: her Henry the K moment:

After Ms. Palin attacked Senator Barack Obama for saying he would meet with leaders of Syria and Iran without preconditions, Ms. Couric reminded the governor that she recently met with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who supports direct diplomacy with both countries. “Are you saying Henry Kissinger is naïve?” Ms. Couric asked. Ms. Palin replied, “I’ve never heard Henry Kissinger say, ‘Yeah, I’ll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met.’ (NYT)

Ack.

NotAPollStat-Nice comparison. Looking at McCain makes me uneasy. I assume a lie or distortion will come forth every time his mouth works. On the other hand, Palin is nice to look at. It's her voice that makes me want to puke.

That was creepy.

Could you imagine if it was Obama who had all of those mannerisms instead of McCain? People would freak out.

Someone should make a video montage of the snake tongue, devil face, and creepy grin moments from last night.

It could be that whatever medications he takes makes his mouth or lips dry...or nerves do it. (I didn't notice glasses of water at the podiums, though they may have had them) Whatever, it's annoying.

Yes... I actually noticed it several months ago in one of the POW videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YwnTnmbOMQ

Happens at the very end of the clip.

I am convinced that McCain is a large gila monster. I predict that sometime during the second or third debate, he will be so filled with utter contempt for that young whippersnapper Barack that he will lunge across the stage and clamp down with his teeth on said whippersnapper's ankle. He will refuse to let go and Gwen Ifill or whoever the moderator is for Debate 3 will have to hose him down to deal with the situation. And I know a bit about reptiles -- just look at my screen name! This outburst may actually help McCain with the extreme right wing of his party (the sight of blood seems to get them going good), but everyone else will be aghast.

Does anyone here remember the TV show from a couple decades ago, caled "V"? Maybe McCain is proof that it wasn't really fiction....