Face it, Dennis Kucinich wasn't very asthetically appealing

[urbanguerrilla]

there's a method to the BFEE's madness in stopping Wellstone.

I'm only dreaming at this point, but had Wellstone been the nominee, turnout from our side would have been off the charts. He'd have to have had double the security detail to fend off Moveon spokespeople who could barely contain their glee in coordinating with the campaign.

[Pacifist Patriot]

1. That explains why people have been encouraging me to run.

;)

Are you telling me that "You're easy on the eyes." is a political asset? Surely our electorate couldn't be that shallow.

[underseasurveyor]

12. Tis a sad and pathetically superficial

Brittney Spears/Jessica Simpson mentality out there.
'But oh she's just so darn cute so who cares if she's not very bright' :puke:

People admiring stupidity. Says a lot about what's out there doesn't it:dunce:

[genius]

21. Dennis was better looking than Wellstone. Bush was shorter than Kerry

So if the shortest man could win or appear to win the Nov 2nd election, perhaps appearance doesn't matter much.

[Pacifist Patriot]

24. I thought about that as CSPAN adjusted the camera level

during their debates.

[Journeyman]

2. Yes, only good looking people are competent to be President. . .

like this guy. . .

[Wat_Tyler]

4. Don't forget other foxy world leaders.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. :9

[tjdee]

5. That was before television.

Sorry, tv changed things.

Starting with JFK v. Nixon in 1960.

[FizzFuzz]

17. hear hear and lets not forget it! The age of imagery and 30 sec sound

bites are what sway public opinion now. I have ACTUALLY heard some people say they voted for Emperor Poopypants because he's "cute" :puke: Others go for his "mans man" image (what the hell makes him manly I don't know...guess its the potato in the crotch of the flight suit)

anyway, American thought processes were much more complex, more people were capable of reading and critical thinking in the age before TV. A physically unattractive person could go much farther back then than he/she --particularly she, the world is unforgiving of unattractive women--can today. Read Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death"

[dpibel]

25. Yeah

Good thing for Nixon he got all that plastic surgery between '60 and '68.

That handsome devil LBJ got elected post '60, too.

And I suppose there are those who think that pig-eyed weasels like Emperor George I are real lookers, too.

[tjdee]

26. Extenuating circumstances, apples and oranges.

LBJ was already the president after JFK had been shot in the street, and we were revving up in Vietnam. He was a shoo in.

Nixon won because LBJ wasn't running and there was a great number of internal issues with the Dems.

Television did change things, and it is a big factor in our elections--but it's hardly the only factor. Also, it doesn't even necessarily have to do with looks. It has to do with persona and image.

[charlie]

3. Had he lived

Wellstone wouldn't have run. He said as much. He had been diagnosed in 2002 as having MS, and suffered from back problems.

[seafey]

6. Neither is Bush or Kerry... In fact...

I think Al Sharpton and John Edwards were the most asthetically appealing of the Dem candidates.

Kucinich would have been a great president though.

[HereSince1628]

7. Statesmen aren't fashion models, hell, they are even fashionable

With all due respect to Wellstone. He was DEAD, your speculation may honor his memory but being alive is a criterion for both running for office and casting ones vote...well the latter is true in most places.

[natrat]

8. yea that abe Lincoln was a looker too

we live in a completely fucked age

[SteppingRazor]

9. Bwahahaha!!

You can't be serious! Kucinich or Wellstone DEFINITELY would have had a huge turn out among progressives like us. They also would have definitely lost the election by a 30-point margin.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. You don't know that

Wellstone was popular across an amazing spectrum of the population. Anyone who could gain the adoration of both peace activists and the VFW, not to mention farmers, blue collar workers, immigrants, and Native Americans, was obviously doing something right.

Kucinich's main problem was a near total media blackout. I saw how people of all types reacted to him when they saw him in person--which few people did, unless they were lucky enough to live in Minnesota or another state with a strong grassroots campaign. He has an amazing ability to entrance an audience, something that shows up much more in rallies than in interviews.

As a Kucinich supporter, the two phrases I heard most often were "Who's Kucinich?" and "I just love Dennis, but he can't win." If everyone who said the latter had actually voted for him, he would have come in first.

So we all went with the "electable" candidate.

[anarchy1999]

28. Well said Lydia!

It was incredibly painful to watch. Especially coming out of the 2002 elections when Texas had incredibly talented Greens running for every major office in the state. Total Media BLACK OUT! It is just a damned shame.

K Costner said it pretty well on Bill Maher the other night. He wanted to vote for the best man. Someone smart, with a plan and with principles. To hell with the Repubs and most of the Dems at this moment in time.

[serryjw]

35. I was a DK state delegate.......

I heard the exact same quotes here in Denver. I love all his speeches BUT it was such an honor and privelege to see him in person. He has a sweetness about him that does not come thru on TV. IMHO Dk's had 2 problems. 1) total media blackout 2) did not have a wife. Other than that he was very electable. Everyone is forgeting that Wellstone and DK would have brought out the 50% that are NOT voting. They would FINALLY had a candidate that was not full of SH*Tand really did represent them!

[joelogan]

11. DK was deeply flawed in many ways

It was not just his looks. It was the way he spoke. And he rubbed his alternative lifestyle in America's face.

But was the best candidate we have had get into the debates for a long time.

But it is not about candidates OR campaigns. it is about putting out a message about where America should go, and about what Europe is doing to improve their quality of life. It is about selling America on the value of progressive taxation and the idea that America is a partnership and is a country jointly owned by its citizens, and that people who have a lot of wealth should be forced to return most of it to the landlord, the owners of America, the citizens. To do otherwise is theft.

We need to engage in this battle of ideas outside of any political campaign. But we have been blown away by the rightwing propaganda machine for 30 years now.

[Wat_Tyler]

13. 'rubbed his alternative lifestyle in America's face'

Back up this ridiculous assertion, please.

[Beware the Beast Man]

15. No sex threads.

:evilgrin:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about

I heard Kucinich speak in person 4 times, and he never even mentioned being a vegan, although we all certainly knew it. And these days in America, being twice-divorced hardly counts as an "alternative lifestyle."

[joelogan]

27. Excellent! Let's waste some time arguing over minutiae!

It's not like we have anything important to do.....

[Wat_Tyler]

34. Don't project, you're the one with the ridiculous assertions.

You brought this up, your the one obsessing over minutiae.

[MsTryska]

14. dude. Wellstone was bald.

Post-TV america doesn't hire bald Presidents.

[WI_DEM]

18. Wellstone was short and bald and would have been a great president

and if people want to base their votes on looks then fuck them.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. He was a short, bald secular Jewish college professor from the East who

somehow managed to win the hearts of Minnesotans* to such an extent that an overflow crowd of 10,000 people from all walks of life attended his memorial service.

There is no fool-proof recipe for a successful politician. Some people have the gift, and others don't.

[MsTryska]

33. Well i agree.....

but a classic example being my co-worker - "i won't vote for kerry - i just don't like his face."

[WI_DEM]

19. Yeah, Bush is one sexy devil

[goodhue]

22. Wellstone would not of run for President because of his health.

And Paul was certainly no more handsome than Dennis and no less shrill. It wasn't DK's visage that turned off the mainstream media; it was his unapologetic anti-corporate message. Wellstone was similarly discounted as aesthetically unappealing and shrill in 1990.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. That's right, goodhue

:hi:

Dennis was marginalized not because of his looks (Graham and Lieberman and Gephardt were handsome? Who knew?) but because he thought and spoke outside the parameters deemed acceptable by the corporate media.

The New York Times wouldn't even print his campaign schedule with the others, but they included Sharpton's. The TV stations sent cameras to his second rally in Minneapolis (which packed a high school auditorium that had a large balcony), but they didn't broadcast any footage because there was an "important" story breaking about a domestic scandal involving some county sheriff.

They didn't send cameras to his third rally (which was even bigger) at all. In fact, Edwards and Kucinich were in town on the same day. The local paper covered Edwards speaking to a large group of supporters, and mentioned that Kucinich spoke to a couple of labor leaders in the morning--despite the fact that he spoke to 2500 at a rally later in the day, to a dinner of the National Lawyers' Guild that evening, and at a fundraising party late at night.

Do you want a real unforgettable lesson in media bias? Try working for a candidate who doesn't fit into one of the pre-designed boxes.

[goodhue]

31. Indeed

Have you seen the DK supporters group?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=272

[Lostnote03]

29. Audy Murphey Didn't look like Sgt. Rock HOWEVER...n/t

[oldlady]

30. I confess

to a little oldlady crush on DK. In person he was a great speaker. In one of his appearances, he talked about health care and his plan to provide everyone with the same plan Congresspeople have -- he then pointed to his super-white teeth and said--- after all, these caps didn't come cheap. *lol*

I also should confess that the few things that worried me about the Kuch look pitifully sad in retrospect--- I remember hearing him speak against the militarization of space and having introduced legislation to prevent it. I thought --wow, he's so new age he's off his sci-fi rocker -- yipes! now it's done and I didn't even know it was possible. I also felt a little uncomfortable with his new age faith talking about the power of stars and all... now, I'm praying the astrologers got it right and we're in the midst of a three week chaos before the election turns over. Hey, the three wise men in the Bethlehem stable were astrologers afterall---so, I guess DK was pretty successful at pulling me farther to the left :)

[paula777]

32. Really?

Really? astrologers said we are in the midst of a three week chaos before the election turns over? Not that I believe astrologers but who said that and when did they say it (was it before the election?)