During slumping economies ...

[...] We’re fated to yearn for qualities in presidents that we found missing in the last one, so Americans are intrigued by unpolished, unvarnished, impolitic, knock-some-heads-together, passionate, chesty, even hefty.

When Barack Obama burst onto the scene, his lithe frame signaled youth and energy and modernity. He seemed well-read and well-briefed, yet he traveled light, with an airy gait and a sleek look. He nibbled at food and drank Black Forest Berry Honest Tea, avoiding all the campaign junk the rest of us inhaled.

But now his asceticism seems more like a reflection of his cherished membership in the technocratic priesthood — and an unnerving mirror of our starving economy. He’s an egghead who surrounds himself with eggheads, even when they have helped wreck the economy he’s trying to save.

Christie looks less interested in eggheads than eggs Benedict with a side of hash browns and bacon. The Republican’s girth seems reassuring in lean times. Studies have shown that during slumping economies, men may find plumper women more attractive. So why shouldn’t financially stressed voters find plumper pols more appealing?


By M Dowd -nytmes- October 4, 2011