Exactly. Optics are everything in American politics. Always have been. This has bothered me for a long time. Dukakis looked goofy with a tank driver’s helmet: political career over. Howard Dean made a weird cheering noise: political career over. Marco Rubio took an awkward sip of water: the MSM talked about it for days. The list goes on.
It’s not that every American voter is an uninformed, superficial idiot. It’s just that there’s enough of those types to make the difference in elections. Our elections for POTUS–arguably one of the most important political events in the world–are essentially a reality TV show.
The only people who are disqualified based on that are people with little to no originality of personality. People don’t care about them, so they don’t care to not throw them away over random minor things.
Exactly. Optics are everything in American politics. Always have been. This has bothered me for a long time. Dukakis looked goofy with a tank driver’s helmet: political career over. Howard Dean made a weird cheering noise: political career over. Marco Rubio took an awkward sip of water: the MSM talked about it for days. The list goes on.
It’s not that every American voter is an uninformed, superficial idiot. It’s just that there’s enough of those types to make the difference in elections. Our elections for POTUS–arguably one of the most important political events in the world–are essentially a reality TV show.
The only people who are disqualified based on that are people with little to no originality of personality. People don’t care about them, so they don’t care to not throw them away over random minor things.
Counterpoint: Trump likes well-done steak, yet somehow won. I’m not sure how Republicans let that fly.