Sleevegate – another Pulitzer contender from the Washington Post

[pruner]

The hoisting of the sleeves announces that the candidate has come to speak the truth, both plainly and earnestly. He has stripped himself of the formality associated with blazers, suits and navy gabardine. By the nakedness of his forearms he has rendered the setting informal and he is announcing to the audience that it will be treated to unscripted responses, sincerity and ultimately the real man. The pushed-up sleeves are the fashion equivalent of the knowing wink, the two-handed handshake and all of those other gestures intended to make a stranger feel like an old pal. In its purest form, sleeve-rolling is an artifice that declares the candidate is average, never mind that the point of all of his back-patting, chili-eating and speech-making is to convince folks that he is better than average.

Howard Dean doesn't merely push his sleeves up or neatly fold them above the wrists. His sleeves are rolled tightly beyond his elbows and onto his biceps, the cuffs practically twisted into tourniquets. They are rolled into such a wrinkled mess that there clearly is no expectation that they will ever have to come down. Accompanied by a knotted tie and a facial expression bordering on hostility, the pushed-up sleeves suggest that Dean is readying himself for a fight. If the presidential race were a bar brawl, he'd be asking the other contenders whether they wanted to "take it outside."

In contrast, when John Kerry was speaking to students at Boston University this week, he wore an understated plaid shirt, with an open collar and gently folded-back sleeves. He looked as though he might be welcoming a group of summer interns to a catered backyard barbeque during which he will offer a treatise on his political philosophy. There may be a pop quiz over the apple pie.

And for candidates Wesley Clark, John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, Joe Lieberman and Dennis Kucinich, the styling flourish belies military service or a hardscrabble childhood and makes them look like the sort of professional men who call themselves handy because they took a plunger to a stopped-up toilet before they left for the office.

…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37141-2003Dec4.html

[eileen_d]

1. Are you being sarcastic?

If this piece of tripe is worthy of a Pulitzer, then People's "Best/Worst Dressed" issue will be up for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

[pruner]

3. yes…

I didn't think a rolling eyes emoticon or sarcasm tag was really necessary.

[eileen_d]

5. but it's such a pro-Dean article!

</sarcasm>






Sorry.

[Kinkistyle]

2. Is Joan Rivers writing for the Post now?

Maybe Michelle Rivers can join in and they can do a "A Walk down the Red Carpet/Blue Carpet" feature during the primaries and general election on the E! Channel.

[Faygo Kid]

4. The Post - Bush's biggest fan on Iraq

Their drumbeat for the war was as loud and predictable as Hannity or Limbaugh's. This is typical of the kind of junk they are printing these days.

[ShaneGR]

6. You TOTALLY misread that article, it's a PRO-Dean article

I read the Post every day. They are FAR more anti-Bush than you realize. Re-read that article.

[pruner]

7. I have no problem with the content of the article per se…

I just think that articles like this in general denigrate the nominee selection process.

[KC21304]

8. Now that's something we agree on.

It's Al Gore and his earth tones X 9.

[ShaneGR]

9. Well, conservatives have bashed Dean for the rolled-up sleaves

And that article defends him from the attacks. Being a Clark supporter, I don't like the insinuation that the Dems who wear suits are bad.... I still think the intent of the article was to put the conservative criticism in a bad light.

My 2 cents.

[vision]

10. But when Bush pushes his up

than he is being sincire and a hard worker stuggling in the desert to make it bloom.

Amazing that the public is so easily mislead by the coporate media.

[cybildisobedience]

11. how about this line

"One almost pities the candidates and their inability to find a more original, personal way
in which to signal that they are dispensing with the formalities of the campaign trail in
search of more human-to-human contact. "

Does the writer pity Bush that he has to strap on huge belt buckles to convey a sense of cowboy machismo, or that he has more little outfits for photo opps than a Ken doll?

[helleborient]

12. So what does a neck too big for the shirt mean?

Geez...yep, I agree, this is seriously lacking in real content, even if it's positive for Dean.

[Logansquare]

13. The reporter is a fashion writer

By assigning this story, one would guess WP's meta-message is "we know you voters are as bored with this primary as we are. Here's some pablum about how the candidates dress!"

Be on the lookout for a hard-hitting report on what candidates drive in the Cars section.

[kiahzero]

14. It's in the STYLE section!

It's not supposed to be serious, hard-nosed journalism.

If you're going to criticise the Post, at least figure out what the hell the context of the article is before you start whining about it.