Emotional politics: An evolution of the political smile

A historical analysis of the political smile.

Starting with...

Oh yes we can...



OK maybe we can't afterall...



He thinks he can though..



OoOoOo rah! She thought she could.
But really she couldn't.



Oh dear! No comment.



Ooops wrong one. If only he was sober he probably could.


20 years later. Still not sober.



Oh the French. Thought they could so much that their President took it to the next level...and....


decided to beatbox on National television...and...


(wait let me clean my nose first)

...and had a go at the Robot dance:


(note the facial expression)

No, but really, politicians are a happy bunch, aren't they?


Genuinely happy.



Genuinely passionate.


Or maybe just truly demented.

But some are kind, and,


Some are truly Great,


Others you just don't want to mess with:

For they never smiled.

A smile is a facial expression formed by flexing those muscles most notably near both ends of the cheeks. It is customarily an expression denoting pleasure, happiness or amusement. Although the contents of this post are to be taken lightly, most recently, the smile has been used by politicans as part of their electoral armoury. Emotional politics - or the method by which politicians use their public display of emotion as a way of increasing their popularity - highlights the duality of a politician's role: to be a representative whilst being somewhat of an actor. But we must ask ourselves this: who do they act for, and most importantly, who do they represent?