Last week, 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?”
On Monday, viewers of CNN’s American Morning heard a similar comment about Mitt Romney from anchor Alina Cho. (C&L has the video)
ROBERTS: And later on this morning, I’ll ask Mitt Romney about the defining moment in his presidential run. Tell you a little bit more about him. Let you get to know him a little bit better. And if you want to watch the entire interview that we did with Mitt Romney, go to cnn.com/americanmorning.
CHO: He looks great, sounds great, smells great.
And just for good measure, the New York Times noted last week:
Mitt Romney loves the word “great.” As in, “Have a great day,” “Things are going great,” “I’m feeling great.” Mr. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, also looks great, sounds great and smells great, like shaving cream.
Now, I have no idea what Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney smell like. Maybe getting near them is a unique and wonderful olfactory experience. Maybe these journalists just can’t help themselves — even thinking of the presidential hopefuls immediately conjures up the candidates’ delightful aroma.
But 17 months before the presidential campaign, the media’s fascination with fluff isn’t a good sign.
Consider the list:
* 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 is quickly reached an excessive level. Michael J.W. Stickings makes the case that this style of “reporting” might make a difference.
Does it matter in 2007 that Romney apparently “looks great, sounds great, smells great”? Yes, probably. Superficial qualities matter, perhaps more so than ever before. Voters may take such qualities into account — they always have, to varying degrees (even with a great leader like Lincoln — he may not have been attractive in a telegenic sort of way, but he sure gave good speeches) — but what is of greater concern is that the media are proving increasingly incapable of providing the citizenry with what it needs to make reasoned choices, that is, of providing a forum for public discourse (and even for the presentation of serious news) at a level that democracy requires in order not to descend into the quagmire of demagoguery. For what is politics now but a game of demagoguery? It’s all about who looks better, who sounds better, and, apparently, who smells better. And the media are to blame for much of what it has become — they and their “consumers,” the “people,” who co-exist with their political leaders in a mutualistic relationship of self-narcotization.
Well said.
If anyone has any other examples of this phenomenon, let me know. I plan on maintaining a list as the campaign unfolds.
