If Looks Could Kill a Campaign…

The reality is for too many people choose their president as if he is a celebrity. I say he because to date we have had only males. I would love to see that change with a Michelle Bachman but that’s a thought for another post.


There has been a lot of buzz around Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana but I can tell you he has the look that kills a campaign. I know it should be about ideas but the reality is that people in the middle that he seems to be so worried about offending with conservatism will vote for Obama over him on looks alone. The only way to persuade people of the conservative argument is to sell it proudly and to look good doing it.

President Obama is vulnerable on so many fronts but looks is not one of them. Obama is a big government spending machine and freedom crushing liberal who is aloof on most important issues to Americans like the price of gas and jobs but Daniels is not the guy that will beat him.

Ron Paul can’t win, Gingrich can’t win, and they have great policy ideas. But they suffer from the same un-likability factor Daniels has. It may seem petty to those of us that follow and debate politics on ideas but we have to face reality. Just look at the last few presidents and tell me which one of them didn’t take a great profile picture?

I struggle with the idea that Americans are that fickle on such an important issue. When you think about presidential politics what should come to mind is “Jay Walking”. You know the segment on the Jay Leno Late Night show where he asks the person on the street to name the speaker of the house, Vice President, or what the capital of California is? That is the presidential election in a nutshell. The only comforting news is they often forget to show up on Election Day.

So before Mitch Daniels gets in he should ask himself whether or not he has the look…