Reply #5: Only problem is, this doesn't at all apply to candidates. [View All]

[Occam Bandage]

These apply to people who are, rather than speaking honestly, trying to craft a narrative. The problem is candidates are always trying to craft a narrative, whether telling the truth or not. And they're far more practiced at it than most liars.

1. Candidates monitor their eye contact, among other things, constantly. When they look at the camera, it's because they're trying to build "trust." When they look down, it's because they're trying to look "thoughtful."

2. Most pitch changes are deliberate; some are a result of being caught off-guard. If Obama or Clinton sounds rough answering a question, it doesn't mean it's a lie; it might just mean they're having some difficulty with the pre-approved wording of the truth.

3. Candidates rarely do that--because they're generally nervous at the beginning of debates, or in question-and-answers, or in anything else that hasn't been rehearsed over and again. That's why they do that hand-pump-point thing, and those constant gestures: they keep their hands either moving or folded to mask the fact that their hands are shaking. You're in front of a nation, and the slightest slip of the tongue could be the difference between the Presidency and humiliation.

4. Welcome to politics.

5. If a candidate is defensive towards another, it doesn't indicate a lie. Rather, it indicates that they realize that they're in a weak spot, and it would be smart strategy to bring the other down with you.

6. Totally inapplicable.

7. Totally inapplicable. Candidates use humor in weak spots all the time, or when they sense their opponent is in a weak spot.