President Bush answers a question as his Democratic challenger John Kerry takes notes during the presidential debate in St. Louis, Missouri, on Friday, October 8. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Friday, October 8—It was all about body language at the second presidential debate on Friday. In the first debate last week, President George W. Bush squirmed and smirked away his lead over opponent Senator John Kerry. In Friday's debate, audiences saw a much more relaxed and aggressive President. He even made a joke about his earlier performance.

"That answer almost made me want to scowl," Bush said after hearing Kerry's answer to an audience question.

The Art of Body Language

Body language is how people act with one another, said John Harwood of the Wall Street Journal.

"It's a big asset as a candidate if you can show that you can relate to other people very well," Harwood told Scholastic News Online. "Kind of like showing you're one of the popular kids in class."

Body language became a part of the campaign last week when Bush seemed uncomfortable at the podium during the first debate.

"People thought he was angry or upset or not presidential," said Tim Russert of NBC's Meet the Press, a Sunday morning TV news show. "So he thought about it all week and he won't be doing that again."

And he didn't do it again. Like Kerry in the last debate, Bush spent a lot of time taking notes while his opponent spoke. He blinked his eyes a lot, but he did not smirk.

The debate format may have had a lot to do with that.

"This time he's around real voters, not just standing behind a podium and talking to the moderator," Harwood said. "They are going to have to relate to average people who are going to be in the audience, and that's going to be something the viewer at home is going to be able to seeÑhow comfortable they are with other people."

Russert said the town hall format presents it's own set of problems. "If a citizen asks a question of one of these candidates tonight and they don't look him in the eye and give him a straight answer, if they say basically, 'thanks for the question' and go off and talk about something else, that will be very, very serious," Russert said. "That person will come out and talk to the media and say he didn't answer my question and that will be devastating. So you have to engage the questioner, look him in the eye and give him a real answer."

Neither candidate had a problem with eye contact with the audience, or even with each other. At times, each one turned to the other to make their points. Unlike the last debate, candidates were allowed to walk around. Both took advantage of that, striding up to questioners to answer the questions.

Bush campaign advisor Karen Hughes told Scholastic News Online that Bush looked terrific during the debate.

"I think he dominated the debate," Hughes said. "I think he enjoyed having people in the audience. He's very much a people person and I think I saw him winking at members of the studio audience. It's the kind of environment that brought out the best in the President."