Yes, it’s that time again, when pundits deliver to news consumers a whole bunch of assumptions that are gobbled up as rapidly as a fish gobbles up a baited hook. One common one already making the rounds: someone who “looks like” a President.
But, as Kevin Drum notes, exactly what is a President supposed to look like?
In advance of the 2008 presidential campaign, many high-profile figures in the media described Mitt Romney as someone who “looks like a president.” It was as if news outlets were thinking of central casting, and imagining who looked the part. Romney — a handsome, middle-aged white man — fit the bill. The media tended not to describe Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama the same way.
Four years later, we’re seeing the same phenomenon. This time, not only does Romney “look like a president,” but so too does Rick Perry.
And why does Perry “look like a president”? Presumably for the same reasons Romney does — he’s a handsome, middle-aged white man.
Perhaps Drum is being too harsh.
I mean, who’d be arrogant enough to say what a President looks like?
I can tell you what a President looks like — or should.
Given the state of politics in both of our political parties, a President should look like this:
It helps if a President has a charming smile and has “intelligence” written all over his face:
But it doesn’t always help to win election to the Oval Office:
A smile helps. For instance, try to look like Jimmy Carter:
Someone who wants to look Presidential must be able to make quick eye contact:
On the Democratic side, it’s unlikely Barack Obama will face a serious primary challenger.
And on the Republican side, no matter who gets the nomination he or she will really look like this:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.