Do you think you can tell a person is a conservative just by looking at a picture?

[Justice wanted]

A friend and I have been having a debate about this issue. Could you look at a picture of someone and determine if that person is a conservative or liberal-Republican or Democrat?

opinions? Thoughts?

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Yes.

If consevative, their facial expression reflects either constipation or a finger up their ass.

[underpants]

2. The Fox News element (leggy blondes) changes that. But I do know how to detect one...

use sarcasm or , better yet, irony - it simply does not compute with them.

I don't know why but I found this to be a rule that is 95% accurate.

[hlthe2b]

3. Simply speak in multiple syllables....

That should weed out about 90%

[MindMover]

4. About as accurately as when you look at a pic of someone and say LGBT

[csziggy]

5. No

People probably think I am conservative by the way I look and they would be completely wrong.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Most conservatives I meet think I'm one of them

I kinda look the part, I guess.

[bluestate10]

26. Every so often I get mailings from the Republican National Committee.

So far I have resisted the urge to wipe my ass with the letters and mail the them back, instead taking the more civilized tact of ripping the letters up and throwing them in trash.

[Stinky The Clown]

28. I recycle mine

[DFW]

33. I fill out their "questionnaires"

I tell them that I'm perfectly happy with what Obama's doing, I like his "socialist" policies,
and basically throw their percentages out of whack to the extent that I can. I always make
sure that the envelopes are sent back to the States for mailing, so that they have to pay
for the postage, too! I toss anything where I would have to pay for postage.

[uppityperson]

7. What do you think?

I think good grief no.

[Justice wanted]

8. i don't think so. She thinks there are certain things that tell her.

[uppityperson]

12. It is possible to generalize and prejudge on simplistic physical characteristics, but

that is simply generalizing and prejudging=prejudice.

[Justice wanted]

13. THat's true.

[Tikki]

9. NO...

My hubby and I look super conservative.
Mr. Tikki because he has that Charlie Rich white bushel of tresses on his head and
me because I look like I am the other part of Big Hair, the couple.

Charlie Rich's hair...exactly like my husband's hair style.

We are Super Liberal.

Tikki

[saras]

10. If they've been a rabid one for many years, it affects their facial musculature...

...not unlike all other chronic emotions. But you can't always tell. Ted Kaczynski had a similar sort of chronic expression, but one would hardly call him conservative - reactionary, maybe.

And then there's the clown makeup. AFAIK progressives don't do that look much.

And the subservient role played by the wives - always wives, never male partners - in public.

Depending on where you live, a business suit may be required for all, or may be the uniform of a professional liar.

no one is proof, but all of them together is a pretty strong suspicion

[Enrique]

11. in some cases

[tapermaker]

14. not as easy as u might think

My brother is a skinny weather worn face ( think Perry) 50 yrs old and has hair down to his ass, He is on his face, the most hippy looking dude you ever saw . He is a staunch fiscal conserv. with deep convictions concerning gays and social justice thats lets just say wouldnt go over well here. I on the other hand am an overweight man of 53 with a buzz cut and a penchant for long cigars and singlemalt scotch.( think rush limbaugh)I am of the opinion that gay rights are just as important as my civil rights. I tend to think it really shouldnt be anybody`s business who an adult loves or marries . I also tend to believe the only way this country goes forward rather than back is to have government make sure rampant capitalism is regulated to allow for a vibrant middle class. these views make my brother start to breath funny when i express them.

[slackmaster]

15. Negative. I don't believe in "cold reading"

[Arugula Latte]

16. Not definitively, of course

However, when I find out someone is conservative and they look like this, I think, "of course they're conservative." For some reason a lot of conservative white men look like overgrown fetuses, like rightwing pundit Erick Erickson:


Haley Barbour is another Man Fetus:


Bill Bennett:


And of course, the fetus that should have been aborted:

[Brettongarcia]

32. well noted. That's why they defend the fetus so strongly: they relate to fat mindless blobs

And they fear any attempt to show that they are not really human beings

[Arugula Latte]

34. Good point.

And here is another one ... How could I have forgotten ol' Newt:

[Enrique]

39. I smell bacon n/t

[Odin2005]

17. No. Case-in-point: Ed Schultz.

[Arugula Latte]

23. Although, to be fair, he used to be a rightwinger.

[tammywammy]

18. No. n/t

[notadmblnd]

19. I don't think I can just by looking at their picture

But I can sure spot them out in public.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Nope, it is like telling "race." and "ethnicity."

[Cleita]

21. Often the USA flag printed shirts and hats give them away. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. no

[jberryhill]

24. According to Happeh Theory...

[Avalux]

25. Not a picture. But if I'm looking at them in person, without them talking, yes. n/t

[etherealtruth]

27. Of course not

[lonestarnot]

29. Nope, but I can smell them.

[2ndAmForComputers]

30. No. No way.

Unless the person has "WHITE POWER" tattooed on his forehead or something.

[Brettongarcia]

31. Sure! A slightly Neanderthal look: big jaw, small brain pan. A belligerant attitude.

A puzzled and angry look: as if they just don't get it.

[jillan]

35. No ~ But I think you can tell by the car they drive.

I doubt many Dems drive Hummers and that many Cons drive Subarus....

[Gemini Cat]

36. No.

They need to say something stupid before I can tell.

[Puzzledtraveller]

37. No, but particularly the Paulites

My gf and many of her peer group nowhere fit the conservative stereotype in regards to style, choice of clothes, demeanor, and even the cars they drive, music they listen to, book they read, films they like, hair style even, and they are text book Ron Paul conservatives. When I first met her I would have never been able to guess just by her appearance or that of her friends.

[Bluerthanblue]

38. looks can decieve

both in positive and negative ways.

even if we 'decide' a person is a conservative, does that make it true?

What an individual does and says is what is important. Their political party designation doesn't really matter-

Prejudice and bigotry is destructive imo.

[Shankapotomus]

40. It really depends on what they look like

some people have a borderline appearance and for some it's clear where their allegiance lies.

Sometimes long hair on a male will make you think "Left" but there are right wingers like Ted Nugget with long hair.

I have tried and I don't think there is any definite sure fire way to tell 100% of the time. There are exceptions, though. Usually white guys who wear the extreme sports regalia with a "corporate" style hair cut I can peg correctly as Righties. And "hippie chicks" or the modern version of them are usually another easy spot. It depends on how obvious the person wants to make it too.

Mostly, except for politicians who pretty much all dress the same, Lefties, on average will have a more independent fashion style while Righties will be more inline with the zombie corporate / "family values" dress code.

[hfojvt]

41. maybe somebody could make an online quiz

use pictures of Governors and/or state legislators.

Might be kinda hard to find liberal ones though. Other than Mark Dayton, which governors would be considered liberal. Might be interesting to ask DUers to rate their governors.