What's Behind That Grin (or Grimace)?
Monday, Sep. 17, 2007
Candidates in the 2008 presidential race never seem to stop talking, but is it possible that what their facial expressions tell us IS MORE revealing than what they actually say? In a TIME.com experiment Dan Hill, a recognized authority on facial coding, looks into each candidate's eyes for clues to their innermost thoughts.
REPUBLICANS
Rudy Giuliani
Disgust is the single most characteristic emotional state that "America's Mayor" shows on his face. When Giuliani speaks, the upper lip on the left side of his face will often curl slightly upward, revealing what appears to be an aversion to whatever person, idea or event he may be discussing.
Giuliani is often derisive and dismissive of rivals, particularly Democrats, and his raised lip signals, in effect, that the opposition stinks. Meanwhile, the natural resting position that Giuliani's mouth sits in when he's not talking is for the corners of the mouth to turn down in a form of disgust verging on bitterness. In meet-and-greet situations, he tends to look down and away from people. The bottom line: the former Mayor of New York City is combative, bringing a prosecutor's mentality to politics.
Mitt Romney
Most of the time, a smile on his face will last one or two seconds and not much longer. A smile lasting more than four seconds will almost always be either a sign of real ecstasy or simply political calculation. Watch him as he stands on the debate stage, smiling in the background as one of his rivals is fielding a question (especially a tough one).
The social smile so readily adopted by Romney is, in truth, the mark of a businessman, which is of course part of his impressive resume. That's not to suggest that Romney isn't happy; he probably is. But the degree to which his smiles seem manufactured is more reminiscent of Hillary Clinton's smiles than those of any other major candidate.
Fred Thompson
Congenial, even downright folksy, the former Senator from Tennessee is never in a hurry, whether it's to declare his candidacy - or his true feelings. Like Huckabee, Thompson's facial expressions come on and off his face naturally, with relative ease. Nothing stays the same for long.
The smiles are there when he says "I figure I couldn't play the role wrong" regarding a script where he would be asked to play himself or when he espouses running out of concern for the world his young child will face. Then again, Thompson's brow knits in a sign of displeasure when he discusses China's trade policies or expresses his contempt for the government's handling of Katrina, and the pressed lips of anger appear when he says that unlike others, he won't "apologize for America." In other words, with Thompson the words are on-message and the feelings are on-emotion. Despite his protests to the contrary from the man who dubs himself a "citizen-politician," it would seem that we have in Thompson a consummate politician. His lack of formal training as an actor doesn't mean he can't act, in every sense of that word.
John McCain
In a word, John McCain is exasperated. You can see it when his goes into his puffer-fish look. His chin rises, pushing his mouth up into what would be a pronounced upside-down smile expressing anger, disgust and sadness if it wasn't for the other two aspects of his characteristic look. One of those aspects is that he literally puffs his cheeks out.
The second is that he presses his lips together in an expression of anger whose edge is barely softened by the social smile he adds to the look. McCain will say things like, "I'm angry today because..." But one gets the sense that there will always be something new for McCain to be angry about. And why not? In a world needing this much reform, there's always work to be done.
Mike Huckabee
The former governor of Arkansas is more genuinely congenial than any other Republican candidate, with the possible exception of Fred Thompson. When Huckabee smiles - as he often does both on stage and in talking to voters one-on-one - the smiles are authentic, appearing and fading away naturally. They're not pushed onto the face or suddenly dropped, like a fake social smile will be.
Even when he's not being his usual upbeat self, his face is animated, such as when he gathers his eyebrows together in a sign of concern while talking about oil dependence or dislike for the current tax system.
Sam Brownback
Nothing defines the Senator from Kansas more than pride, which is most evident in Brownback's face by the frequency with which he manages a learned social smile at the same time that his lips are pressed together in anger.
What's notable is that Brownback will engage in a Reaganesque echo, speaking of America as a "shining city on a hill" and yet he's not smiling when he does so.
What is Brownback's other more common facial expression? It's when his eyebrows arch together and downward in what is in his case primarily a sign of concentrated impatience.
Ron Paul
Like so many of the other candidates, Paul is most given to anger. The Congressman from Texas will tighten his lips, sometimes exhibiting a higher degree of anger by pressing so hard that a slight bulge will form beneath the lower lip. But in much the same unorthodox way he addresses the issues - favoring a withdrawal from Iraq, but also supporting abolishing the IRS and the U.S. Department of Education - Paul's facial expressions also have something of a wild-card quality.
On occasion, for instance, he will be simultaneously so outraged and amazed by "what this country has come to" that anger will be combined with surprise. Then his jaw will drop open either before or after a sign of anger revealing his indignation.
Tom Tancredo
Thematically, Tancredo should be defined by anger. Immigration is, after all, his signature issue, a desire to slam the door on illegal crossing of the country's southern border. But the heat of his rhetoric is much hotter than the degree or frequency with which he shows anger; a mouth pulled tight to exhibit a low degree of anger is what Tancredo shows most often on his face.
What explains the disconnect between words and expressions? The answer lies in the rapid, even nervous pace with which Trancredo speaks. The Congressman from Colorado hurries his words, often jumping topics or at least making sudden transitions. As a result, the single most striking expression Tancredo shows is actually fear, instead of anger. His mouth will go wide and freeze for a moment, as he momentarily loses his train of thought, and becomes a little frightened, before rediscovering what he wants to say next.
Duncan Hunter
There's a stiffness to Hunter's walk, a quality that shows up as well in the rigid facial expressions shown by the Congressman from California. Most often, his degree of expressiveness is low as he talks firmly about the issues that matter most to him - immigration and military defense. But if he has a look that distinguishes him from his Republican colleagues, it would be his tendency to reveal contempt. Now and again, especially when attacking the Democrats for a perceived lack of patriotism, the corner of his mouth will curl upwards in a tight indent.
The candidate whose booth at the Ames, Iowa straw poll was handing out "Old Fashion Ice Cream," Duncan is morally indignant at the forces in the world, like China, that aren't playing by what he regards as the right rules.
DEMOCRATS
Hillary Clinton
Senator Clinton really has three key signature emotions. One is a social smile, often quite broad, that appears on her face and stays there in a fixed, even tight display of happiness. It is distinguished from a true smile, which involves the muscle around the eye relaxing and bringing a "twinkle" to the eye, by the fact that it involves only the mouth and cheeks.
Anger is the second emotion the former First Lady shows, most often by either narrowing her eyes after they've been wide, wide open.
The final characteristic emotion is contempt, shown by having the corner of her mouth turn up and in on itself, as if forming a pocket or twisted indent. When challenged in a debate regarding her high negative ratings, all three emotions were evident on her face; she simultaneously reacted with disdain and annoyance largely smoothed over by putting on a brave, happy face.
Barack Obama
True to his latest book title, The Audacity of Hope, Obama is the rare candidate running in '08 whose characteristic emotional state is upbeat. Only Richardson, Romney and Huckabee could likewise be described as primarily positive based on their tendency to smile, and of them Obama's smiles are the truest, longest and the most common.
Is Obama so upbeat as to seem naive or out of touch with America's mood? Probably not, given instances when his mouth will tighten up in signs of anger as he discusses the war in Iraq or what he describes as other ill effects of a Bush Administration.
Nevertheless, his freshness lives in his smiles and it will be interesting to see if they survive the rigors of the campaign trail.
John Edwards
In 2004, Edwards was Mr. Sunshine. Indeed, one of the political cartoons showed jumper cables running from the corners of his smile to Kerry's deadpan face in an attempt to jolt his running mate into a little lightheartedness. The new, more populist John Edwards is darker.
The electric smiles are still there, occasionally. But now the eyes are often narrowed in anger, and there are moments when his nose wrinkles in disgust or his mouth curls in contempt as he discusses the urgency of change and the forces he sees as protecting the status quo. A good number of his smiles are actually skeptical, meant to soften the blow of a grim prognosis for the country.
Bill Richardson
The Governor of New Mexico is, by turns, amiable, amused, self-deprecating, angry, contemptuous, and simply downright conflicted and ambivalent about the world around him. Sometimes Richardson calls himself an optimist. And there's lots of truth in that. The Governor will shrug his shoulders and smile, like when he notes that he was President Clinton's favorite diplomat to send on a tough mission because even "bad people like him." Good diplomats, of course, have to be flexible and open-minded, perhaps even of "two minds" on an issue, and Richardon's range of expressions reflects that.
The Governor also describes himself as a realist, which might explain why his most characteristic expression is actually a combination of a smile (optimist) and contempt (realist) - the corner of his mouth hovering, Mona Lisa like, in a state of ironic recognition of the difficulties the country faces and how the foibles of human nature can compound matters. Richardson can be angry; watch his mouth flare into an elongated, open funnel expressive of anger when he reminds voters that "Kids are dying." Given to movement when he lingers over a problem, Richardson's eyebrows will knit in concern as well. But it's the contempt softened by an understanding, patient smile that defines Richardson best.
Joe Biden
His characteristic emotional state could really be described as "Senatorial anger," which seems to energize the Delaware politician.
Biden tends to speak slowly, with gravity, out on the stump. His eyebrows knit together and lower in concern, only to be followed a moment later by a mouth turned tight with bulging anger as he discusses troops maimed and killed in Iraq.
Biden can be given to moments of self-deprecating humor, when he slips into a smile. But anger seconded by disgust is what characterizes Biden emotionally as he makes a second bid for the White House.
Chris Dodd
Quite frankly, if there's a word that describes the speaking style of the Senator from Connecticut it's that he bellows. Physically larger than Biden, Dodd is no less angry than his Democratic colleague from Delaware. The difference is that Dodd's anger doesn't signal itself by a bulge beneath his lower lip. Instead, Dodd's eyebrows pinch together and lower as he if he is lowering the boom on ideas and rivals he finds antithetical and wrong. Sometimes, his mouth forms an elongated, open funnel expressive of intense anger, but more often the corners of his mouth are turned down in disgust.
A smile gets added in every now and again,, but it's not the essence of a candidate advocating "boldness" as he joins Ron Paul in decrying people who "walk over the Constitution."
Dennis Kucinich
Also slight of build but equally eager for a fight, Kucinich is the inverse mirror of the Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Both men show anger and amazement that the status quo is allowed to continue. But the difference is that Kucinich's signature look is actually a mixture of disgust and sadness, of a man always in pain.
Notice how his upper lip almost always is raised slightly in a sign that he finds a "stench" rising from the way a host of issues, from Iraq to social justice here at home, haven't been dealt with nearly as well as they should be. That look is combined with a slight depression running from the upper corners of his mouth to his nostrils, revealing sadness.
Mike Gravel
The former Senator from Alaska is hardly a household name. But he is unmistakable when he talks. Gravel's statements are anything but milquetoast: Vice President Cheney should be "committed," and so forth.
Moreover, Gravel's facial expressions back up what he's saying. These aren't just sound bites; they're how the guy really feels. How do we know that? From his propensity to show disgust, with an upper lip curled up and away as if he couldn't escape contemporary politics fast enough.
Source: TIME magazine
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This TIME article is older than God, but it's so right up ontd_political's alley and seems to offer ~retrospective~ points to discuss/debate/gossip over. Especially with less than 48 hours left until...well, you know.
So what do Yall think -- do these 'facial analyses' genuinely apply to the candidates? Are some more genuine than others? Do any offer hints about what turned out to be the eventual fate of each candidate?...Or are these just superficial 'mash-ups' of each candidate's presumed disposition?