A blog post from the Politico kicked off the John-Edwards-haircut frenzy a couple of months ago, but today, the Politico has a similar story that’s embarrassing for Mitt Romney.
What kinds of things do you think of when you hear “communications consulting”? Speechwriting? Message strategy?
Well, “communications consulting” is how presidential candidate Mitt Romney recorded $300 in payments to a California company that describes itself as “a mobile beauty team for hair, makeup and men’s grooming and spa services.”
Romney spokesman Kevin Madden confirmed that the payments — actually two separate $150 charges — were for makeup, though he said the former Massachusetts governor had only one session with Hidden Beauty of West Hills, Calif. That was before the May 3 Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., co-sponsored by MSNBC and The Politico.
“We used them once but booked time twice and still had to render payment for the appointment time,” said Madden, who said the disbursement was listed as “communications consulting” because it was paid from the communications division’s budget.
I guess this is supposed to be good news for Dems. “See? Turnabout is fair play! If Edwards’ hairstylist is the most important aspect of his presidential campaign to political reporters, then Romney’s expensive makeup job should now be the subject of endless speculation and scrutiny, too!”
But I don’t see it that way at all. I don’t want competing vapid stories that take turns skewering one side, then the other. Equal-opportunity fluff has a modicum of fairness to it, but I much prefer far less fluff.
As Kevin Drum put it, “Seriously. Can we just stop this stuff? Does anyone really think that the problem with presidential campaign coverage is that it isn’t vapid and half-witted enough already?”
For those keeping score at home, I’m keeping a frequently-updated list on this stuff.
* In June, Chris Matthews got a little creepy in praising Fred Thompson, going so far as to compliment the former senator’s odor: “Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man’s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of — a little bit of cigar smoke?”
* Also in June, viewers of CNN’s American Morning heard a similar comment about Mitt Romney from anchor Alina Cho: “He looks great, sounds great, smells great.”
* Politico chief political columnist Roger Simon declared former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the winner of the June 5 Republican presidential debate and attributed Romney’s victory, in part, to the fact that he is “[s]trong, clear, gives good soundbite, and has shoulders you could land a 737 on.” (Simon has previously described Romney as having “chiseled-out-of-granite features, a full, dark head of hair going a distinguished gray at the temples, and a barrel chest.”)
* Bill O’Reilly has praised Romney’s jaw and hair.
* NewsMax has gushed about Romney’s appearance: “First, he has sensational good looks. People magazine named him one of the 50 most beautiful people in America. Standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall, Romney has jet-black hair, graying naturally at the temples. Women — who will play a critical role in this coming election — have a word for him: hot.”
* Newsmax also praised Ann Romney’s appearance: “Ann is warm and very natural. She has the look of an outdoors woman bred to be an equestrian, which she is — good carriage, rosy complexion, square jaw, and blond mane. When she is not flashing her truly unbelievable smile, she may lower her eyes demurely. But Ann Romney is not demure — she may be modest, but she isn’t meek. She is unpretentious, but she isn’t shy. She lowers her eyes, thinking, and then looks up directly at her interviewer and dazzles him with that smile.”
* Chris Matthews is worried about whether Al Gore had plastic surgery: “Do you think, uh, do you think, Jill, he’s had cosmetic surgery around the eyes, below the eyes? What do you think? … You don’t want to talk about that one? Everybody’s so afraid of that one, but I think there’s some work been done. It looks pretty good actually.”
* Dennis Kuninich’s wife’s appearance is drawing scrutiny: “Whatever might be said about her husband’s politics, Mrs. Dennis Kucinich has exquisitely crunchy tastes in clothes-shopping: she buys a lot at resale shops and thrift stores. I’m never prouder of my wife than when she brings out Baby Nora in some gorgeous piece of clothing, and I think, ‘Oh gawd, how much did that set me back?’ — and Julie says, ‘Got that for 50 cents at the Salvation Army — isn’t it beautiful?'”
* Barack Obama’s ears have drawn Rush Limbaugh’s attention: “[I]f the guy’s sensitive about his big ears, we need to give him a new name, like Dumbo. But that doesn’t quite get it. How about Barack Obama Hussein Odumbo.”
* John Edwards’ appearance has drawn more scrutiny than almost any other aspect of his campaign.
* And don’t even get me started on the media’s interest in Hillary Clinton’s choice of clothes and her personal appearance.
Obviously, some degree of superficiality is expected in any presidential campaign, but this has quickly reached an excessive level.