Project for Philosophical Evaluations of the Economy |
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Do presidential candidates have to look like George Clooney?
Dialogue with the Alter Ego on Mitt Romney and alike, first drafted on Jan. 4, published on Jan. 5, 2012
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Question by Noah denkt™ (Nd): You know, looking at Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum or Rick Perry during the Iowa
Caucus raises the question for us whether you have to have the voice of Michael Buffer (ring announcer for HBO)
and the looks of George Clooney to be a viable contender for the Presidential nomination of the Republican
Party. What do you think?
Answer by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE)? Well, you obviously have to somehow mirror the Greek idea of a
sound mind in a sound body, haven’t you? So if, Mitt Romney and alike look and speak the way they do, it is
largely because the public wants them to show that they can be knowledgeable, vigorous and presentable
commanders-in-chief.
Nd: But is this how you credibly project the idea of a knowledgeable, vigorous and presentable commander-in-
chief? Does it all boil down to such a simple Michael Buffer/George Clooney-stereotype?
AE: Surely, you cannot come across as a healthy and vigorous candidate if you have sore eyes, can you?
Nd: Sure. But do you have to have full hair? Do you have to have a nicely tuned body-mass-index? And do you
have a “wonderful wife” and a set of “adorable children” to be credible?
AE: Perhaps.
Nd: Well, Winston Churchill, for example, did have neither full hair nor a perfect body-mass-index. Instead he
drank, he smoked and occasionally flirted with depression. And still he is being considered as one of the greatest
statesmen of the 20th century.
AE: Times have changed, haven’t they?
Nd: Is this a good change though that we are witnessing here?
AE: It is what it is. And if you are fundamentally convinced of the superiority of a free market society, then you
probably have to accept, that the Mitt Romney’s of this world are better placed to guide us into the future than
some of the eccentric leaders of the past were. In other words, a middle-of-the-road guy may well be better suited
to come up with balanced judgments than anyone else who doesn’t even have a balance in his own life.
Nd: In our opinion, balanced judgments are the result of a near suicidal examination of your own convictions, and
not the consequence of an ambitious conformism. And the simple truth is that you cannot come out unscathed of
such a thorough self-exploration. To the contrary, it is quite likely that you will have lost quite a bit of hair in the
process and you may also not be able anymore to shield your sore eyes from an inquisitive public.
AE: Well, we are quite aware of your extreme views, which for the time being, however, have taken you nowhere.
Nd: At least they have given us the capacity for balanced and well founded judgments, have they not?
AE: Who knows?
Nd: Well, we do know that, because this is why you, our Alter Ego, exists in the first place. So you better take it
easy on us if you do not want to unduly shorten your own life expectancy.
AE: Oh, are we resorting to your standard threats again?
Nd: Well, we are just making it plain to you what the situation is. After all, this what you want a vigorous leader to
be like, correct?
AE: Okay, calm down. Everything’s fine.
Nd: It better be like that.
Dialogue with the Alter Ego on Mitt Romney and alike, first drafted on Jan. 4, published on Jan. 5, 2012
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question by Noah denkt™ (Nd): You know, looking at Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum or Rick Perry during the Iowa
Caucus raises the question for us whether you have to have the voice of Michael Buffer (ring announcer for HBO)
and the looks of George Clooney to be a viable contender for the Presidential nomination of the Republican
Party. What do you think?
Answer by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE)? Well, you obviously have to somehow mirror the Greek idea of a
sound mind in a sound body, haven’t you? So if, Mitt Romney and alike look and speak the way they do, it is
largely because the public wants them to show that they can be knowledgeable, vigorous and presentable
commanders-in-chief.
Nd: But is this how you credibly project the idea of a knowledgeable, vigorous and presentable commander-in-
chief? Does it all boil down to such a simple Michael Buffer/George Clooney-stereotype?
AE: Surely, you cannot come across as a healthy and vigorous candidate if you have sore eyes, can you?
Nd: Sure. But do you have to have full hair? Do you have to have a nicely tuned body-mass-index? And do you
have a “wonderful wife” and a set of “adorable children” to be credible?
AE: Perhaps.
Nd: Well, Winston Churchill, for example, did have neither full hair nor a perfect body-mass-index. Instead he
drank, he smoked and occasionally flirted with depression. And still he is being considered as one of the greatest
statesmen of the 20th century.
AE: Times have changed, haven’t they?
Nd: Is this a good change though that we are witnessing here?
AE: It is what it is. And if you are fundamentally convinced of the superiority of a free market society, then you
probably have to accept, that the Mitt Romney’s of this world are better placed to guide us into the future than
some of the eccentric leaders of the past were. In other words, a middle-of-the-road guy may well be better suited
to come up with balanced judgments than anyone else who doesn’t even have a balance in his own life.
Nd: In our opinion, balanced judgments are the result of a near suicidal examination of your own convictions, and
not the consequence of an ambitious conformism. And the simple truth is that you cannot come out unscathed of
such a thorough self-exploration. To the contrary, it is quite likely that you will have lost quite a bit of hair in the
process and you may also not be able anymore to shield your sore eyes from an inquisitive public.
AE: Well, we are quite aware of your extreme views, which for the time being, however, have taken you nowhere.
Nd: At least they have given us the capacity for balanced and well founded judgments, have they not?
AE: Who knows?
Nd: Well, we do know that, because this is why you, our Alter Ego, exists in the first place. So you better take it
easy on us if you do not want to unduly shorten your own life expectancy.
AE: Oh, are we resorting to your standard threats again?
Nd: Well, we are just making it plain to you what the situation is. After all, this what you want a vigorous leader to
be like, correct?
AE: Okay, calm down. Everything’s fine.
Nd: It better be like that.
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| Keywords: Iowa Caucus, Presidential candidates, Mitt Romney, Commander-in-chief, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, George Clooney, Michael Buffer, Politics, political stereotypes, stereotypes in politics, Republican primaries, how to look presidential |