Howard Dean - Too Short to be President

[Screaming Lord Byron]

Looking at Howard Dean in last night's debate, a terrible thought struck me like a thunderbolt from beyond. This man is short! Not only is he short, he seems to be openly short. He strides around as if to say 'look! I lack a decent height and I have no shame!'. The same goes for Wesley Clark. He may be a documented War Hero but he's no six-footer is he? Electing a short man is just the tip of the iceberg. You elect a short man, and before you know it, you're invading Russia, taking over Europe, purely to compensate for your leader's ungodly lack of stature. Where will this end? Will we elect a bald man, next? A man with unnaturally large hands? This is America God damn it!.

(this is about the only candidate bash I haven't seen in GD yet, so I thought i'd pre-empt them, yeah it's a joke)

[VermontDem2004]

1. Truman was 5'10

Not sure how tall Dean is but I think is probaly around the same height.

[gWbush is Mabus]

2. and he's "necky" too LOL

go Dean!

[Ace R. Rubrum]

36. To the taller goes the spoils

Right, Truman was 5'10", but Dewey was 5'8". So, the post-war rule stands - the taller candidate always wins, with one exception. Yep, you guessed it, Al Gore is the sole "taller" candidate to lose since Truman defeated Dewey in 1948. I suggest we scrap Dean and find someone taller than Bush. At least it would be a coherent strategy.

[hlthe2b]

37. Recruit Michael Jordan, for the love of God!!!!!!!!!

:evilgrin:

Nothing else matters, I tell you, nothing!

[VermontDem2004]

47. Well it's time to elect Manute Bol for President then

See #10

[southerngirlwriter]

3. Worse than that....

.....he's thin.

America has great economic fun with Presidents who have, shall we say, a little extra poundage. (President Clinton and his flabby thighs, jogging off to McDonald's, comes to mind.)

President Bush the elder -- thin. Shitty economy.
Junior -- thin. Shitty economy.
FDR -- nice big squishy fellow. Probably gave great hugs. He turned a bad economy around.

See what I mean???

[Patriot_Spear]

4. Oh, for the love of Pete...

Why don't we just dispense with the formalities and go right to the penis measuring contest- for chrissakes...

[Screaming Lord Byron]

7. This is irony, you know.

[Patriot_Spear]

12. yeah- I was just chiming in- guess I was TOO subtle...lol

n/t

[Screaming Lord Byron]

14. Sorry. I've posted comedy before, and been taken seriously. My bad. n/t

[Cha]

17. You were dry! Very Good! n/t

[Ace R. Rubrum]

38. Not sure Dean has one

[commander bunnypants]

5. I am bald

and I would be a good Prez.

Problem?

DDQM

[Screaming Lord Byron]

10. It's a ham-fisted attempt at satire. n/t

[Cha]

16. Have we ever had a bald President?

Wouldn't want to set any precidents! :)

[Carni]

24. Ford was a member...

of the hair club for men lol

[Screaming Lord Byron]

26. Ike was bald as a coot.

[Faygo Kid]

28. As a coot, I resemble that remark

Not quite as bad as Dwight "Captain Picard" Eisenhower, though.

[bif]

6. I heard Georgie wears risers

To make him look taller. Maybe that's why he walks so funny.

[brainshrub]

8. I was thinking the same thing.

I once read somewhere that since the advent of television the taller candidate always wins presidential elections.

Assuming this is true, is Gore taller than W?

ON EDIT: Here's the answer: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/116hhfif.asp

[mitchum]

43. Actually it's not television, but since women were allowed to vote...

true fact (As a six-footer,I have no complaints with this phenomenon)

[THUNDER HANDS]

9. Dean is short

He's actually shorter than Kucinich, which shocked me when I noticed that last night.

[Cha]

15. BFD!

[THUNDER HANDS]

18. BFD?

I am not familiar with this term. Please advise. :D

[Patriot_Spear]

19. Big F****** Deal. n/t

[Carni]

22. Probably means nothing!

Going by supposedly true statistics only... most Presidents have been large men, but then who can tell how much lying has been done over the years! (Hell the public didn't even know FDR was in a wheel chair so who knows!)

[maxanne]

34. nah

I've met them both personally - Dean is taller.

[Awsi Dooger]

45. Correct, Dean is 2 or 3 inches taller than Kucinich

I believe Dean is about 5'8", although someone in a Politics & Campaigns thread insisted he was closer to 5'9", after meeting Dean in person. Kucinish is easily our shortest male candidate, although a few inches taller than Moseley-Braun.

The proper question: "Is Howard Dean too short to be ELECTED president?" We have had some serious discussions about this in P & C, although not recently.

My father was a sociology prof for 40+ years, and I have looked at numerous studies on the influence of height, including employment and politics. To dismiss this factor is foolhardy, especially since the range we are looking at -- 5'11 Bush vs. 5'8" Dean -- is the critical area of above-average vs below-average. A 3 inch gap would be much less important if both were significantly above or below the norm.

I'll never forget how instantly or loud my then-girlfriend howled when Dukakis walked out to shake hands with Bush 41 at the beginning of their first debate. "What is he, 5 feet tall?"

[HereSince1628]

11. So how will this impact US-Canadian relations?

I thought you'd be more interested in whether he never said "Separatists Rock!"

[Screaming Lord Byron]

27. New PM Paul Martin seems pretty short to me.

Perhaps they're both members of the same diabolical brood of evil midgets. Montreal's not that far from Vermont, y'know.

[HereSince1628]

29. But Howard is taller when he's lying on his back.

And that is when its important.

[Cha]

13. "Spiderman" is 5'8" and proud of it!

[Ace R. Rubrum]

39. Lloyd Benson response

I knew Spiderman, I worked with Spiderman, and I can tell you, Howard Dean is no Spiderman.

[Carni]

20. Just saw Clark in person he's taller than he looks

For whatever it's worth... I just saw Clark in person the other day and he is probably close to six foot.
In person he looks very fit (as opposed to very thin)

For whatever reasons Clark looks smaller on TV than he really is (seriously... and I know that is odd )

I would venture that Clark is probably about the same height and size as Herr bush (and I agree with whoever said chimp wears lifts)

Dean desn't look that short to me on Television but I have read that he is around 5'8".

I think in the end it's all going to depend how kind the camera is to these people when they are standing on a stage next to the resident!

[Le Taz Hot]

21. Take it from one who is vertically challenged

at 5'0". My best friend of 30 years is fond of saying, "What she lacks in height she makes up for in attitude."

It's all in the 'tude, baby. B-)

[hussar]

40. I'll go with that

got no choice really at 5'7''

[VermontDem2004]

23. People probaly told Earl Boykins he was too short to play ball

Look at him now! :D

[Faygo Kid]

25. James Madison was 5'4" - he was the shortest

Lincoln, of course, at 6'4" was the tallest. Other tall presidents (pretty much in descending order, although I could be wrong): Johnson, Washington, Clinton, Jefferson (all about 6'2" or better). Monroe, Taft, George H.W. Bush among the others. More useless information crammed into my brain.

[hippiechick]

30. I'd rather have a Short Prez than a Stupid one !

(Seriously, I do get the humor of your post ...)

:grouphug:

:hippie:

[Padraig18]

31. He's tall where it counts--- in the 'brains' department!

:hi:

[MGKrebs]

32. Anybody would look short having to stand next to Kerry!

BTW, I've seen Dean in person, and he didn't seem short to me. Just average height.

Kerry's head must have the highest height to width ratio I've ever seen.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[HEyHEY]

33. Somebody finally said it!

[Screaming Lord Byron]

35. You know me, HEyHEY. I'm the Jacques Cousteau of DU

Never hesitating to plumb new depths

[TopesJunkie]

41. Why you rabid anti-Deanite!

Why I oughta give you a DLC sandwich!

;)

[geniph]

42. If the tallest candidate always wins,

then what the hell happened with Bill Bradley? Man's a former basketball player, for cripessakes!

All generalizations are false. Including that one.

(and yes, I do understand it's humor.)

[VermontDem2004]

48. But Bradley only averaged 12.4 points per game

And only blocked 65 shots in his 10 year career.

(I know, they didn't start counting block shots till 1973 but still!):)

[Overkil]

44. ya but he looks taller when he's angry

[formactv]

46. Michelangelo's David

Has unnaturally large hands.

[Exultant Democracy]

49. and he waxes his car counter clock-wise