Monday, June 25, 2007

Will he or won't he run?

These video snippets were taken from the announcement made by Michael Bloomberg, current Mayor of New York City, concerning his departure from the Republican party. He is now an independent, which brought rise to questions concerning whether or not he would be entering the presidential race.

The photo on the top denotes a basic, middle level anger expression. This reaction reveals Bloomberg's response to being asked repeatedly by the press whether he will run for president.

The second photo shows a tight lipped smile. While Bloomberg's hardly has an easy-going personality, here he seems to be enjoying the "media circus" at least a little.

On the third image, Mark Bloomberg is showing some contempt for the "media circus." On one hand he likes it, while on the other he dismisses it.

The bottom photo shows him with a true smile on his face. This is an example of how much he absolutely likes the limelight, fueling speculation that he might in fact run for president despite the annoyance portrayed initially during his news conference.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Face of the Week - Clinton, Obama, and Giuliani

Clinton & Obama

This excerpt from the Democratic presidential candidates' debate held on June 3rd, 2007. The excerpt shows Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's responses after John Edwards has sharply criticized them for not being more outspoken against the war in Iraq on the floor of the Senate.

As you can see here, Hillary Clinton started with a full, social smile, seeking to negate Edwards' attack. Very soon after the smile starts fading. The way the smile turns into a grimace as it fades betrays the extent to which it was not a true smile to begin with.

At the same time, Barack Obama showed some anger and dismissal. Obama turns his head away from Edwards and his lips appear to tighten together in a slight sign of frustration with Edwards' attack.



Giuliani

This excerpt from the Republican presidential candidates debate held on June 5th, 2007. the excerpt shows Rudolph Giuliani's reaction after being read a quote in which a Rhode Island priest has compared Giuliani's position on abortion to Pontius Pilate's personal opposition to the crucifixion Jesus Christ but allowing him to die anyway.

First, note that the normal resting position of Giuliani's mouth is in the form of a disgust reaction with the corners of the mouth turned down (top photo). In the middle of this question, he shows a look of frustration (2nd photo). The 3rd photo shows very intense anger with the lips pressed firmly together while looking down shows signs of sadness. Giuliani finally settles on a smile toward the end of the question (bottom photo).

Thursday, June 7, 2007

It's a new blog!!!

Welcome to the Face of Politics blog. Every week we will analyze some of the facial expressions displayed by some of the presidential candidates. It should be fun, interesting, and unique. So please be sure to check back each week to see what's new in the Face of Politics.