look at this pic and tell me which one is 6.3 and which is 5.7???

[ourbluenation]

what the hell????

[slackmaster]

1. I don't understand the question

What are you asking?

[ourbluenation]

2. Obama is a lot taller than McBush but at the debate they "appeared" the same height

why?

[Genevieve]

6. Elevator shoes? nt

[slackmaster]

11. They sounded the same height to me when I listened to the debate on the radio

:shrug:

Thanks for clearing up your unconventional numeric expressions.

[Honeycombe8]

29. I noticed that, too.I wondered when he walkedout if he'd use a box, but I guess he had elev.shoes.nt

[Chan790]

10. 8-inches...

there are 8-inches in height between McCain and Obama. That photo looks like a height difference of 3-inches at most.

Somebody(?) is wearing lifts so they don't look like Cotton Hill. It doesn't help that Obama, like most exceptionally tall people, slouches. Edit: He's actually standing up more in that pic.

[slackmaster]

16. A candidate's height or posture is of no concern whatsoever to me

It's right down there with race and gender on my scale of important issues.

[Chan790]

22. It's a psych thing...not an issues thing.

Tall people tend to reflect stronger and more capable than short people. There is no actual basis in fact for this, it's all about appearance.

Only one time in the modern era has a significantly shorter candidate beaten a much taller one...and even then, most people thought Kerry won all the debates.

[krawhitham]

44. looks like 8 inches to me (image inside)

[chelsea0011]

3. The perspective appears to have the McCain podium slightly closer to the camera

making an appearence of same heights. I'm sure the McCain people knew where the camera angles were and had the podium postioned as such.

[blondeatlast]

13. Yes, there is more foreground in front of Obama. I'm certain McCain

is wearing lifts as well but the camera angle is the main culprit. It's just off-center, but enough to distort.

[C_U_L8R]

4. Is McCain wearing stilts?

[Hepburn]

5. How in the hell did they find a particular camera perspective that makes them look...

...about the same height?

Wow...now that took some careful planning! What a surprise...NOT!

[321Outright]

48. re: How in the hell

maybe they spoke to the director of 'lord of the rings' to get some tips :P

[Guava Jelly]

7. I think the stage is tapered

To equal out the height.

[Auggie]

8. It looks like the floor has been raised under gramps. Compare the height of

the lecterns.

[quantass]

9. It might be just a visual thing because of the picture -- i'm sure if ...

you brought them closer the size difference will be obvious. From what i see, i see a slight high diff (Obama taller).

Notice how the podium for Obama's is a bit further away from the camera than McCains...This picture seems to be taken at an angle nearer to McCain than Obama which would reduce the preception of Obama's greater height.

[slackmaster]

12. Poor Jim Lehrer looks like a dwarf

.

[frogcycle]

19. I like your perspective

:rofl:

[frogcycle]

14. well, it's obvious

what's the problem?

The distance from the top of Obama's head to his podium is clearly greater than that for mccain, and Obama's podium is below mccains.

The camera is slightly to the right of center, so there is a slight optical illusion, if you ignore the fact that Lehrer is clearly not centered between the two podiums (podia?).

Whether the photographer just happened to be a step to the right or just framed the pic to be as balanced as possible, I doubt that it was some conspiracy to shrink Obama. There are much better examples to get upset about.

[slackmaster]

17. As a photographer I agree with frogcycle's assessment

It's a nice nearly symmetrical image. No conspiracy.

[screembloodymurder]

23. But taken at an angle meant to make McCain look larger than he is.

Imagine if it had been taken slightly to the left of center.

[frogcycle]

27. yeah, then it would have been a lousy picture

[1corona4u]

32. That's exactly right. Besides, who cares how tall they are....

:hi:

[KittyWampus]

15. Obviously, mcCain has a riser underneath him and his lecturn.

[frogcycle]

18. wrong

his feet are below Obamas
it is just the camera angle, not stilts, lifts, risers, or little green men

[godai]

24. Actually they design the lectern height to the speaker's height. McCain's is shorter. n/t

[Bernardo de La Paz]

45. Yes, you got it. Lectern heights differ and McCain undoubtedly wears some lift shoes. . nt

[frogcycle]

47. wrong - McCain is levitating n/t

[secondwind]

20. Obama's usually wonderful long legs are shortened, and McCain's legs are much longer

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

21. It is a perspective trick.

Easily noticeable during the debate.

On TV they also had a tighter shot of McCain, again making him look bigger than he is.

[frogcycle]

25. mcpow has been levitated

it's the Rapture! it's the Rapture!

:rofl:

[Uben]

26. During the debates.....

....you could clearly see they set the cameras to make each candidate's head about even, though McCain's shoulders were a good 4 inches above Obama's, indicating McCain's shorter stature.

McCain didn't want to look like a little short prick.

[Madam Mossfern]

28. It's the perspective and the camera angle-did you ever

watch baseball games where the pitcher looks about 3 feet tall and the batter looks 9 fee tall? That's because they distort the perspective.

[slackmaster]

30. That particular phenomenon, known as foreshortening, is a phenomenon of telephoto lenses

I've always found that particular case amusing.

Even better, looking over the pitcher's shoulder toward the batter, when the pitcher is Chris Young of the San Diego Padres.

[neomonkey]

31. Who*gives*a*flying*fuck

Remember, the Democrats had the height "disadvantage" with Dukakis. There were lot of reasons he lost, but I really don't think his height was one of the primary reasons.

Viewed as a general unit of length, eight inches is not a lot. In the realm of height, even 2 inches can seem like a lot, but when viewed from substantial distances, those spans are miniscule and not really blaringly noticeable when taking into account the fluidity of the human posture.

You guys gotta get off the height thing, you sound like a bunch of Hannah Montana-chewing empty-headed freshman cheerleaders. John McCain can be torn down for so many other important reasons.

[elocs]

34. Right, because as Democrats we know that all voters make their decisions

based upon rational and logical arguments backed up by facts. Voters never make their choices based upon their emotions or their gut feelings. So things such as height or if one candidate appears to be more presidential for whatever reason makes no difference at all because remember, b voters are moved and swayed by reasonable arguments and nothing else has any impact on their decisions. This is why Democrats always win.

[OwnedByFerrets]

40. Statistics tell us that Height DOES Matter.....and I resent

YOUR inferences that I am empty headed. Lots of things make up how people choose their leaders and unfortunately height is one of the criteria....however silly.

A slight bit of research back up the notion that taller people are regarded to be "better" than their shorter counterparts.

http://www.apa.org/journals/features/apl893428.pdf

http://www.springerlink.com/content/j886735267666r8p/


For the 46 elections in which the heights of both candidates are known, the taller candidate won 27 times (approximately 59 percent of the time), the shorter candidate won 17 times (approximately 37 percent of the time), and the candidates were the same height two times (about 4 percent of the time). Of those who were not President or Vice president at the time of the election, the popular vote was won by six who were shorter and sixteen who were taller. We might assume, however, that James Madison, the shortest President, was shorter than his opponent, and this would increase the number to seven for the shorter candidate.

It should be noted, however, that in three of the cases in which the shorter candidate won, the taller candidate actually received more popular votes but lost in the Electoral College; this happened in 1824, 1888, and 2000 (the other time that the electoral vote winner was not the popular vote winner was in 1876, for which we do not know the height of the loser).

So, of the 46 cases for which we have data, the taller candidate has won the popular vote 30 times (65 percent), and the shorter candidate only about 14 times (30 percent of them). This does constitute a statistically significant (p < .05) difference from chance by chi-square test, although this is not the case when electoral victors are considered.

www.wearableartnow.com

[neomonkey]

42. I am certainly grateful that cold hard scientific pragmatism was not on FDR's mind

After all, he was shorter than both Obama AND McCain.

[blogslut]

46. Roosevelt came before television

And Lincoln had a squeaky speaking voice.

Just sayin'.

[neomonkey]

53. Uh, yeah. Don't forget Napolean Bonaparte. I'm sure television would have

put an end to that monstrosity.

Wasn't Stalin a bit "squat?"

I guess we can thank television for our modern brand of tall but benevolent leaders, don'tcha think?

:sarcasm: :rofl:

[PolNewf]

33. It is just the angle. notice McCain's podium seems higher as well. n/t

[JeanGrey]

35. McCain is closer to the camera which makes him look taller,

plus Obama slouches. I've noticed it before. When he talks he leans forward and bends from the shoulders (look at the pic).

[undeterred]

36. I think Obama is 6'1"

[Clio the Leo]

50. exactly ........ but he does seem to be taller NT

[TlalocW]

37. Could be doctored - it's happened before (pic)

Check out the following pics. In the undoctored one, Bush's eyes are at the level of Kerry's nose. In the FOX pic, their eyes are pretty much at the same level. Kerry is still slightly taller, but the difference isn't as obvious.

TlalocW

[4nic8em]

38. Very interesting...

Please note the proximity between McCain's head and his ass...

[alcibiades_mystery]

39. Debate actually held at Santa Cruz "Mystery Spot"

:rofl:

http://www.mysteryspot.com/

[ourbluenation]

41. Bullshit - It was at the haunted shack at Knots Berry farm!!!

http://bear-ytales.net/Haunted_Shack/Haunted_Shack.htm

:rofl:

[ncteechur]

43. Well, its so obvious. They put McCain on a rack before the debate.

Of course he didn't object because he flip-flopped on his opposition to torture regardless of what he said in the debate. They racked him up a few inches.

[crankychatter]

49. McCain's lectern appears closer... notice the desk is not dead center

Obama is further away

under the carpet there may be a slope? so mccain is actually elevated?

ya got me

great question

[Rabrrrrrr]

51. OMG!!!! Obama's podium is smaller, too!!! OMG!!!!!!

Camera angle, dude.

Camera angle.

[CreekDog]

52. That building has foundation problems

:rofl:

or it's the mystery spot.