Posted on 07/26/2004 7:02:17 AM PDT by dead
We live in superficial times, so here is a superficial question: is John Kerry too unattractive to be the President of the United States?
Don't laugh. This issue is getting at least as much attention in the US as anything Kerry might say at the Democratic Party's convention in Boston this week.
On any given day, it is impossible to open a newspaper without reading something about Kerry's face.
People have been cruel. The former editor of The New York Times, Howell Raines, says Kerry has "an Addams family face." Matt Labash of the The Weekly Standard says he looks like a "long-faced Easter Island statue" or like one of those tall, talking trees in Lord of the Rings.
Others say that Kerry is not so much ugly as lacking charisma. In the Boston Herald last week, writer Beth Teitell complained that "everyone knows what Kerry lacks is charisma".
The curious thing is, Kerry wasn't always so unappealing. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, when he ran for the Democratic nomination in 2000, journalists referred to him as having "an easy manner and good looks" and as a "person who could bring charm" to the race for the White House. So, what happened? Was Kerry suddenly hit with the ugly stick?
The Review doesn't think so. It concluded that journalists covering the Kerry campaign in 2004 have simply grown tired of listening to him as he campaigns and "this personal weariness has seeped into their coverage".
US voters are not enamoured with Kerry, either. Given the beating Bush has taken this year, over the war in Iraq and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, Kerry should be well ahead in the polls. But, if he has a lead at all, it is within the margin of error.
If Kerry's problem was lack of charm, his poll numbers should have risen when John Edwards joined his campaign, because Edwards, 51, has been described as "boyish" and "charming" and "handsome" and "youthful" and "charismatic". But Gallup polls say there was no "Edwards bounce" after his name was added to the Democrat ticket.
Gallup also says that Edwards cannot deliver even his home state of North Carolina, where the Bush-Cheney team is leading by six points.
Kerry will get his chance to make a big impression at next week's convention in Boston. For four days, US voters will see his face and hear his message.
Already, however, there are signs that Kerry is not confident about his own appeal.
David Letterman joked: "The Democrats said they were not going to let Hillary [Clinton] address the convention. They were worried that if she speaks, she will overshadow John Kerry.
"Isn't that amazing? I mean, I'm thinking, hell, the guy doing the sound checks can overshadow John Kerry."
There are signs Kerry is polishing his image. After appearing unusually fresh-faced at a recent rally, he was forced to deny that he'd had Botox injections. But he recently had his front teeth capped.
They missed the whole thing. It's not that he is "butt" ugly (which he is), but that his voice drones on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on... (snore).
YES!!!!!!!!
I'm not normally that superficial, but Botox and fake bake tans are fair game for jokes.
Being ugly along with having the personality of a bucket full of ---holes is a big plus.
It is the hair. He has bad looking hair. It is retro '60s "dry look" that make his head look like a Q-Tip.
THEY are the ones that are superficial. why do you think they keep showing those 60's photo's, We all looked better 40 years ago.
He's a girlie man!!
I think he's already been offered a cameo role in SCARY MOVIE 4.
Yikes, I take back post # 8. He was just as ugly 40 yrs ago.
LOL - John Glenn looks disgusted!
"He's the drunk one, not me!"
Huh!?!
GOODNESS.
That woman is on something...look at her eyes.
She s staring off into space.
Glenn is waiting for his Viagra to kick in.
I suppose the Dems will need SOMETHING to blame their defeat on, as it simply couldn't be their ideology. Fine, they'll sleep for another election cycle.
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