My wife is an admin for a childrens clothing board with a few hundred women members. Most of which are republican stay at home moms and the consesus on the board is that Obama his hot. I mean these women would jump his bones. Do you think this will have an effect on the elections? I know its superficial but its not any more superficial than electing a president because he talks like your grandpa.
I think he looks weird but I am a guy so what does my opinion matter. As far as the question does it matter? Hell yes it does, most americans are clueless when it comes to politics or what is going on in the world so yes everything matters.
Agreed...Looks and charisma have a lot to do with it...Unfortunate, but true... Luckily for us, Hillary has neither...
We've elected the last three Presidents because we liked one's father, another had a catchy campaign slogan, and the last served as VP under a very popular President. The other Democratic front runner, while she's been effective on her own, got her shot because we like her husband. Sexiness definitely makes a difference.
Of course it matter How one looks means ALOT in Elections I don't think it is any coincident that I beleive all our Presidents have been over 6'0 we want our Presidents to be tall and Stately Rocket River
I understand your point, but this isn't even close to truth. Less than half of the Presidents have been over 6', and Truman, Carter, and Nixon were under 6' in the television era. http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP060303.htm
James Madison was 5'4'' You can check all their heights here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidents_by_height_order George Bush isnt even 6 feet tall.
I don't know about the list in general, but part of it is flawed. I've seen both Al Gore and George W. Bush up close and in person, and Gore is certainly shorter than Bush. Gore is about my height 5'9"-5'10", while Bush is at least 2 inches taller. The link in my post above shows Bush as 6'0".
Gore's leaning into the camera and Bush's slouching a little. He was good at that. He even moved his podium nearer to the camera during the debates. That's why it surprised me. I thought he was at least a couple of inches taller than Bush, because that's the way he appeared in every photo and on television. 6'1" may be his NBA height, but his real height is around 5'10".
On Bush's height, in general, we are arguing over an inch, but I don't think he is taller than Gore. You said Bush is "slouching" a little, how do you know Al Gore wasnt slouching whenever it was that you saw him? Was this post-election weight gain Gore? His fatness may have made him seem stout. In 2000 I remember reading that in those irrelevant indicators of an election Al Gore was taller, which was usually a plus, and that George Bush's Halloween masks were selling better, which was a plus for him.
Sorry about the info it was a random stat I had picked up off TV a while back [i think during Perot's run] Rocket River
actually, I remember learning in school that it was the opinion that one of the first television moments that mattered was a debate between kennedy and nixon. nixon had the flu and he looked it, and some analysts thought the differences in appearance made big deal.
I watched that debate live, in "vivid" black and white, lol, and Nixon didn't have a clue regarding makeup, and how to prepare yourself for the TV cameras. Kennedy did, and took full advantage. Who could blame him? Agree that it was one of those first political "moments" on TV. Some of them really make no sense whatsoever, like Ronnie's, "I paid for this microphone!" (I think that close to what he said, anyway) A turning point in that campaign, clearly, and it made no damn sense at all. Why the hell would anyone want to run for President? You constantly have to be on guard against the unguarded moment, the unguarded comment, the throw away joke, that meant nothing but a bit of levity to you when you said it, and is "water cooler" talk for the next 2 weeks, and endless talking head analysis... an endless period of time during a campaign, and a setback, undeserved or not, that can take a long time to make up. Who's "immune" to those sorts of moments? People loaded to the gills with charisma, and the ability to turn them into non-issues with a dollop of charm, a line or two, and that darn charisma. Charisma. Hard to quantify, but you know it when you see it. Or hear it. Hitler had it. Churchill had it. FDR had it. Jack Kennedy had it. Bobby Kennedy had it. Ronnie Reagan had it. Barak Obama has it. Who else does this election cycle? D&D. Charisma is Powerful and Rare.
