How much do looks matter in presidential politics ?

[kentuck]

Do the majority of people vote mainly on physical appearance and everything else is secondary?

Would people actually elect a nerdy little guy with glasses - even if he was a genius? I have my doubts. American voters are so superficial. If the candidate is "too intelligent", they cannot understand what he says and they shut him off.

If he talks in simple cliches, no matter how stupid, they feel they understand what he is talking about? Is this the case with Dubya? Is it really just a waste of time to spend too much energy talking about real issues and solutions, because most voters are looking for something else anyway?

[gpandas]

1. never underestimate the stupidity of the american people n/t

[NMDemDist2]

2. how much?? lots and lots IMO eom

[napi21]

3. Looks matter a lot!

That sure was a big reason Kennedy won. The looks usually are coupled with charisma. If you have both in one candidate, you've got a winner!

One other thing that matters a lot is how the media presents a candidate. Think about Dubya....thousands of shots of him are taken every day. Somebody goes through them to chose the one or two they will use. Until fairly recent, all the media seemed to try to put a good face on him. Only after his poll #'s started to drop did some "goofy" shots begin showing up.

[rock]

4. Not at all. Zero.

Even a simpleton can see that looks have nothing to do with leading our country. Er, maybe you meant how important are looks in getting people to vote for you? Well then, extremely important. Hmmm.