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Unflattering Campaign Photos

James Joyner
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The folks at Ft. Lauderdale’s CBS4 have put together a collection of “Unflattering Photos From The Campaign Trail.” The ones I found most amusing of the remaining candidates:

Unflattering McCain Photo

Unflattering Obama Photo

There were scads of unflattering Hillary pics but this one seems most apt:

Unflattering Hillary Clinton Photo

A while back, commenter Anderson noted that I often used really unflattering photos to illustrate posts about Hillary Clinton but not so much the other candidates. This collection helps explain why: The above Obama pic was by far the worst I could find. It’s not particularly bad.

McCain, like Clinton, will be at a decided disadvantage in the photo wars.

Hat tip: Taegan Goddard

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5 responses to “Unflattering Campaign Photos”

  1. Triumph Avatar
    Triumph

    Let’s face it–Hillary is a monster. No way getting around it. McCain is ugly, too, but much of that is due to his perennial health problems. Obama is clean, but looks a bit of a cross between Michael Jackson and George W. Bush.

  2. Anderson Avatar
    Anderson

    It’s okay by me now — unflatter away, sir.

  3. Ugh Avatar
    Ugh

    She looks like the Joker in that picture. Or a sad clown.

  4. Robb Shecter Avatar
    Robb Shecter

    Thanks for the timely post about this aspect of journalism. The appearance of a person’s photo says everything about the author/editor, and nothing about the subject themselves.

    It’s trivially easy to go frame-by-frame through a video of someone speaking and select a shot of them with their tongue sticking out.

    In fact, this gives me an idea as a simple way to “rate” blogs as to objectiveness and substance over noise: what kind of photos do they use of their subjects?

  5. James Joyner Avatar
    James Joyner

    In fact, this gives me an idea as a simple way to “rate” blogs as to objectiveness and substance over noise: what kind of photos do they use of their subjects?

    I do occasionally use humorous photos of subjects if it helps illustrate the mood of the post. The Clinton shot above, for example, would be perfectly fun in a post about how she’s whining or whatnot. But, yes, it’s ultimately silly.

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