When you think about the men and women representing us in Washington, DC, how much time do you spend contemplating their attractiveness? Not much, right? Me neither.
But that didn't stop a New Hampshire state lawmaker from likening a US congresswoman to "a drag queen" in a thinly-veiled attempt to steer voters toward her "truly attractive" opponent.
Say what? It's true! Republican SteveVaillancourt put these harsh comments in writing in his blog on NH Insider. But the crass lawmaker claims he was merely making a point in reference to a recent poll that asserts an attractive candidate can have as much as a 7- to 10-point advantage over a less attractive opponent as long as the two are of the same gender and one isn't so good looking, it is intimidating.
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Vaillancourt wrote:
Let's be honest. Does anyone not believe that Congressman (sic) Annie Kuster is as ugly as sin? And I hope I haven't offended sin.
Oh no he didn’t! Oh yes he did! Sure, New Hampshire is the "Live Free or Die" state, and certainly this man can write whatever he likes, but can you imagine if female political pundits were sounding off on the looks of male candidates? They'd be deemed frivolous and shallow.
In an attempt to defend himself, Vaillancourt says he wasn't being sexist when he seemingly attempted to spark a cyber catfight between Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kuster and Republican Marilinda Garcia. He pointed to the Kennedy-Nixon debates in which JFK bested Tricky Dick with those watching TV while the opposite held true when it came to radio listeners.
Either way, isn't there enough discord in politics already? Do we really need to turn an election into a beauty pageant? Even if the country ran out of real issues, like, oh, say, poverty, unemployment, and crime, I still don't think looks should determine who gets elected.
But Vaillancourt's comments aside, it makes me think about the survey he was referencing. Have you ever heard of those studies where psychologists send two teachers into a classroom to read to students? One is older and less attractive, while the other is young and pretty. When asked which is the better teacher, children invariably pick the more attractive one.
We can typically write off those results because they're kids, but when it comes to adults and lawmakers, shouldn't we know better?
Do you think a candidate's attractiveness should ever come into play?
Images © Matthieu Spohn/PhotoAlto/Corbis and via AnnieKuster and MarilindaGarcia/Facebook