To be Sexy, Looks Aren’t Everything

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is arguably the most handsome 2008 candidate for President. Why does that matter? Because John Kennedy, Bill Clinton (with the help of Al Gore), Ronald Reagan, and George Walker Bush all gained votes because of their looks at the time of running. The video age makes the importance of sex appeal in a national race unavoidable, and so does the rise in female voters. (This is not to pick on women; in 100 years when we regularly have female candidates competing in presidential primaries and races, there will be even more attention paid to their looks by male voters. Meanwhile, polls have regularly been conducted in the past few presidential races about which candidate would give us the best looking first lady.)

So why aren’t his great features helping Candidate Romney? Because his Mormonism is wiping away any hint of sexiness that his photogenic image could possibly arouse. Romney is coming across as a stereotype: at age 60, he’s been married for almost 40 years to a woman he met in high school, and he has five children, all boys (well, men now since he has 10 grandchildren). He is seen as squeaky clean to the point of creepiness. It’s not his apparent devotion to his wife that is a turn off; certainly many women find our current President’s love for his First Lady admirable and becoming. But Romney’s upstanding monogamy appears to the public (fairly or unfairly) not as a result of passionate love for his significant other, but as a product of his religion. Everything seems a little too perfect and church-programmed to the point where we’re all wondering if he’s got another wife tucked in the attic somewhere. (His wife, Ann, by the way, was raised Episcopalian, but she converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and attended Brigham Young University after meeting Romney. )

Of course, lack of sex appeal despite appearance isn’t Romney’s only problem. He has flipped, flopped, and flipped on abortion. And, although many supported his overall reasoning in preserving marriage as being between a man and a woman, he looked indisputably foolish when, as Massachusetts Governor, he invoked a law from 1913 that was written to restrict interracial marriages to prevent out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts. Speaking of Massachusetts, there is the issue that if nominated, he would not even be able to carry his own state.

All is not lost for Governor Romney, however. Hugh Hewitt has written a book defending Romney's supposed weaknesses and showcasing his impressive resume. The Mass. Mor. Rep. Gov. also seems to be the favorite candidate of The Ingrahammer, who often has him as a guest on her show, and Lady Ann, who unofficially endorsed him at CPAC. We'll see. In the meantime, if you still want to lust after this Stanford, Harvard Law, and Harvard Business graduate based on his sheer incorruptibility, all I can give you are these nice, clean pictures. I guess there is still that drive among some to want the unattainable (maybe Romney himself suffers from it).

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