On the blink - Obama loses debate, and staring contest, too

thedaily.com ^ | Oct. 4, 2012 | Daniel Libit

[Free ThinkerNY]

President Obama blinked last night.

And that might be one reason most observers judged him the loser in the first of three debates against Mitt Romney.

As The Daily reported earlier this week, Boston College psychophysiologist Joseph Tecce has found that since 1980, the candidate who blinks the least during the televised debates has gone on to win the popular vote. In his preliminary analysis of last night’s debate, Tecce found that Obama lost in a landslide: he blinked an average of about 75 times a minute, compared to 55 times a minute for Mitt Romney.

Obama also underperformed compared to his results four years ago, when Tecce found that he blinked just 62 times per minute in head-to-head matchups with Sen. John McCain.

Tecce said the blink disparity between Obama and Romney marked “a substantial difference that was probably detected by viewer voters.” And if the pattern continues, Tecce argues that it could damage Obama's prospects for winning a second term. In the last eight elections, only George W. Bush in 2000 has managed to overcome his faster blink rate to win office — and he, of course, still lost the popular vote.

[Utmost Certainty]

Interesting.

[Paine in the Neck]

We subconsciously pick up on blinking as a mark of confidence and strength. In '08, Obama knew he had a weak opponent so was confident. In '12 he may have walked onto the stage thinking the same thing but after the first exchange knew he was in trouble. Thus the rapid insecure blinking and gaze avoidance.

[llevrok]

Photophobic eyes due to heavy concentrations of drugs ?

[crosshairs]

Maybe he had to blink more because he spent most of his time looking down at his blackberry waiting for his handlers to text him talking points. He was focusing on the little screen.

[alancarp]

I can hear it from Debbie W-Schultz now: “it was about his dry eyes due to the altitude” and “climate change under Bush led to this.”

[tumblindice]

[Slicksadick]

I never mentioned this on the debate thread, but I thought 0 had two very different type blinks. Most were the normal fast type, but whenever Mitt was making good points, he blinked at about one quarter speed. Seemed really weird at the time, I thought it was like a pained reaction of some sort. If anyone rewatches the debate, check it out, its very telling, and creepy.

[goat granny]

How many times a minute do you blink? I don’t think normal blinking is 60 times a minute or anything close to that.