Though I can’t find many examples at the moment, I seem to have noticed it in screen captures of a few of his recent media interviews, and even when he’s watching a soccer game. Anybody else notice this? If so, somebody might want to get with the guy and convey that the constant hunted/haunted look probably isn’t doing him any favors.
I am moving this call for opinions about a public figure out of Great Debates and into IMHO.
I suppose it’s only a matter of degree . . .
Yea, I thought this was going to be about that look he gives when he looks of into the distance when giving speeches (I was even going to call it the “looking into the future gaze”). He does that basically whenever he pauses giving a big speech.
Never noticed the look mentioned by the OP. The linked photo just looks like he’s looking down at something off camera (or that he’s bored having to watch soccer so he can have something for small talk with world leaders at the G20 summit)
Maybe he needs reading glasses/bifocals now?
If he didn’t have an intense stare he’d be labeled under-confident and weak. You just can’t win in politics.
Maybe nobody else sees it then, but one example was the ass kicking interview, where he seemed to frequently revert back to this funny glazed kind of look in his eye.
The comment above about having an “intense stare” in order to combat perceptions of being “under-confident and weak” is an interesting insight. I’ve never read of, say, FDR or Theodore Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, LBJ or even Ronald Reagan as having an intense, intimidating stare when dealing with the press and the public – if anything, their public persona radiated confidence through an easygoing affability. (Behind closed doors, I’m sure it’s another matter entirely.)
But if Obama has a need to show he’s not to be trifled with (in his public persona), through adoption of some (sorry, have to say it) hard-core inner city stare-down pose, that doesn’t really speak of an inner core of confidence to me. Oh well, just my observation.
I think he’s just making eye-contact with the person he’s talking to, it just looks weird 'cause the other guys off camera.
I would have thought it obvious that it was a practiced look. It showed up in the political posters.
Maybe he really is looking into the future. Ever thought of that, huh?
Jesus, if that stare is him looking into the future, I better tell my elderly coworkers to buy Old Glory Insurance as soon as they can.
Sleep deprivation was a factor in the thousand-yard stare. And of course that’s something that afflicts presidents as well as soldiers.
Still far better thanthis guy. (And I didn’t pick the worst picture I could find.)
Ah . . . so here’s where it all started. He hasn’t ever travelled to New Mexico since he became President, has he? . . .
Nicely done!
I’m no fan of Bush, but that’s not even a very good photo if you’re going to start the tu quoque-ing.
Obama’s look seems to be a practiced pose. In other words, Obama (or at least his advisors) think he looks good like that, or radiates confidence and vision, or some crap like that.
No, not some crap like that. I think it is exactly that, on the nose. People just eat that up, and his advisors, or he himself, knows it.
Koxinga mentioned the ‘inner-city hardcore pose’ upthread, I’m sure in mockery,but there really is something to that. That shit works on tons of people. And a lot of inner-city thugs may be uneducated, but lots of them are plenty smart and could outwit plenty of educated folks. They learn a certain ‘steeze’ (or style) and swagger that causes people to fall for their shit.
Oprah has it too. Her’s is more of a hypnotic tone to her voice, I think, than an actual swaggar, but whatever it is, people eat it up. I will bet Obama puts that look on like a mask whenever he thinks he needs to hypnotize a few million suckers. I think he is going to have to come up with some new tricks if he wants to keep his Messiah thing going now, though. Folks are losing faith! His cheerleading group at my job have been very quiet lately. I’m still rooting for him, though.
To me, it’s less of a “1,000-yard stare” and more like a hard disk light flickering.