Quick follow-up to the previous item: Hey, pollsters! Especially you, PPP, since we all know you love this kind of stuff. I'd love to get a reading on how old people think Mitt Romney is. I'm guessing it would come in at, what, around 55? Maybe lower? I'd be very surprised if it's over 60.
I have no idea whether age makes any difference to Americans, nor any real opinion about whether it should...well, overall I wish we had a Congress that included more people in their 20s and 30s, but you can't really get much diversity in the White House at any one time on age or anything else. And we've had good and bad presidents in every age range. So this is really just curiosity, nothing more. Still, I'd love to know the answer.
Monday, July 9, 2012
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I've asked multiple people that same question, every last one has said "55"...Considering the way the Right criticized Nancy Pelosi (age 72) for her alleged Botox use, I'm waiting for the debate over how much plastic surgery Romney has had to make him such a youthful-looking 65...
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that the media would realize at some point we have re-entered the era of candidates who dodged the draft. Obama, I think, has been the only post-draft candidate. Sarah Palin also, I guess.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I wish you had asked that before you mentioned his age :-) I follow politics pretty closely and I wasn't sure of his age. I think I'd have guessed about 60, but I really couldn't say for sure.
ReplyDeleteMust say that I would've guessed 60 before you gave away the lede.....
ReplyDeleteI feel like Obama is seen as younger than he is too. I don't think most people realize he's in his 50s.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to Mitt Romney, I doubt he's had plastic surgery, but I'd be very surprised if he didn't dye his hair.
With regard to Obama, the last year has aged him a whole lot. He looked a lot more youthful in 2008.
DeleteBoth Romneys seem oddly young for people in their mid-60s, one of whom has a degenerative disease. Amazing what a quarter-bill in the bank can do to a person, even short of plastic surgery.
ReplyDeleteI like the Bob Mould post titles, Mr. Bernstein. I always thought Workbook was a pretty good album, though less consistent than the Huskers material. I'm very excited to see the man when he performs in SF two months from now.
My little theory:
ReplyDeleteFor me, and probably a lot of other Americans, our first major exposure to Romney was in 2007-2008 as McCain's main rival for the Republican nomination. Side by side with McCain (contextually if not always physically), he comes across as young, vibrant, handsome, energetic, etc. even more than he would if we had grown to know him in a vacuum or in another context. He was just such a strong contrast with the crotchety, deteriorating McCain.
And that impression still stands, so it's natural to shave a few years off his actual age during casual conjecture.
Also he probably uses Just For Men.
McCain's duty to country came at a real cost, huh?
DeleteYes, it did. In fact, it really does make McCain look older, and I'm meaning on video, not in photos somewhat, but it's not as jarring.
DeleteAs a consequence of his torture, McCain's hair turned white (relatively quickly) and he cannot raise his arms above his head. He moves stiffly. These things combine to make the man seem really old. For his entire life in the public eye, he has had white hair and moved stiffly.
So, yeah, McCain's time as a POW really does make him look older than his years. Combined with him actually being old, well, yeah, the apparent age contrast in 2008 was pretty stark.
I would've guessed 53 if I didn't know he was 65.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to judge, since I lived in MA for his first Senate run in '94; he's been in my life for 20 years now! But just going by looks and general impression, I probably would have said mid to late fifties.
ReplyDeleteI always forget how old he is and then get shocked when I'm reminded. To me he looks like he's in his mid 50s.
ReplyDeleteObama used to look like he was in his early 40s but he looks closer to his age now.
Speaking as a follicularly-challenged 40something, I'm constantly amazed at how easily the masses are fooled by fake, late-middle-aged-male "replacement" hair.
ReplyDeleteHere's a photo of Romney as a 60-year-old, five years ago. Note the hairline; in particular the full head of hair on top and significant hair recession around the temple. I'm gonna go out on a limb and assert that no late-middle-age male in history has naturally achieved such a hair distribution.
So you can pretty easily envision, in the attached photo, the bald Romney (as God intended). Further, I bet the bald Romney - in your mind - looks every bit of 60; whereas the Romney in the photo, having access to the best Hair Club for Men that money can buy, looks quite a bit younger.
In short: the reason he looks younger is because his hair replacement scheme is typically associated with younger men, 40somethings in particular.