The sad campaigner

Perhaps the Republicans have just given up. Depression can cause dramatic mood swings: despondency (”Conservatives don’t trust McCain”) to mania (”Sarah Palin”). In an article about voice profiling software, the New Scientist reports:

McCain does not seem as adept at using spin to his advantage, and his “straight talk” can make his speeches fall flat from a motivational point of view, according to Branka Zei Pollermann, founder of the Vox Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, who has analysed the candidates’ voices for communication consultants Clearwater Advisors, based in London.

“The voice analysis profile for McCain looks very much like someone who is clinically depressed,” [emphasis mine] says Pollermann, a psychologist who uses voice analysis software in her work with patients. Previous research on mirror neurons has shown that listening to depressed voices can make others feel depressed themselves, she says.

Pollermann uses auditory analysis software to map seven parameters of a person’s speech, including pitch modulation, volume and fluency, to create a voice profile. She then compares that profile with the speaker’s facial expressions, using as a guide a set of facial expressions mapped out by Ekman, called the Facial Action Coding System, to develop an overall picture of how they express themselves.

I think this, more than Palin’s refusal to respond to subpoenas, will doom McCain-Palin 08. Dukakis and Gore were both tagged with the “boring” label and they could not shake it, regardless of their credibility or expertise.