Sherry Chandler

The Washington Post and the Stanford University Political Communication Lab have collaborated on a study to test whether familiar facial features increases the likeability of a political candidate.

To do this, they took a pair of relatively unknown members of the U.S. House of Representatives – Ed Case of Hawaii and Mary Bono of California (I got my first shock right there. Who knew Mary Bono was still in Congress?) – and morphed their features to make them look more like more famous pols – Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Evan Bayh. These morphed candidates were given the name Paul or Paula Vaughn and fake bios that varied somewhat. For eample, sometimes the candidate was Democrat, sometime Republican. The result:

“No matter the gender or party affiliation of the candidate, changing the composition of the face from 20 percent Clinton to 40 percent Clinton is a significant plus,” Iyengar found. “Moreover, the effect occurs across different types of voters — men and women, Democrats, independents and even Republicans.”

But the more candidate Vaughn looked like McCain, the more likability dropped. And it wasn’t a “Beauty and the Beast” effect, though McCain’s age may have played a role. The morphs of Hutchison, a former University of Texas cheerleader, didn’t move the needle significantly. Nor did the morphs of the good-looking Bayh or Giuliani, who most agree must be content with inner beauty.

“But even when we limit the analysis to the Republicans,” Iyengar said, “the degree of similarity to Giuliani or McCain does nothing for Vaughn’s support, suggesting there’s something special about Hillary Clinton.”

The full report can be read here.

Anybody who’s known me long knows that I was raised Southern Baptist, and for whatever that was worth, it most assuredly did not include any pagan ideas of Carnival or popish notions of Lent. Some among us thought we were supposed to be purse-mouthed and repentant all year long, I think. Others found Carnival in the road houses every Saturday night and Lent on Sunday morning (coming down).

So it took me many years to understand what Mardi Gras was all about, not that I probably understand it yet. It’s a complex festival, and I hope it will come back in its full glory in time.

I understood Fats Domino well enough, however, – or thought I did. He has a new album, “Alive and Kickin,” with a timely review in this morning’s NYTimes:

That’s the way he still feels about New Orleans, although his house in the Lower Ninth Ward was severely damaged by the flooding after Hurricane Katrina. “As long as I’m in New Orleans, I’m not away from home,” he said in a rare interview at the uptown club Tipitina’s. He’s living in a suburban-style housing development in Harvey, La., but he intends to rebuild his house and return to the Ninth Ward as soon as he can. Asked about the prospects for his city, the perpetually optimistic Mr. Domino said, “Everything’s gonna be all right, I think.”

…

The album is being released as a benefit for the Tipitina’s Foundation, which has aided New Orleans musicians with everything from Internet service to new eyeglasses to more than $300,000 worth of new instruments. It is available from www.tipitinasfoundation.org.

“I think it’s a pretty good song, and it fits what’s happening now,” Mr. Domino said of the title track. Mr. Domino, who is 78, lost three pianos and most of his other possessions in the flood; afterward, looters took most of the gold records he earned in the 1950’s, when he was the second-best-selling singer after Elvis Presley. But when he was awaiting rescue, he said, “I wasn’t too nervous.” He added, “I had my little wine and a couple of beers with me; I’m all right.”

Here’s one Southern Baptist who will raise a glass to Fats and his city and hope that the spirit of New Orleans never dies from our land.