sigh

[winterbadger]

Working out in the gym today on an elliptical trainer. Coworker (from another part of the company) who I've chatted with from time to time about fitness and exercise and found pleasant enough is running on the trainer next to me, watching MSNBC (which seems to be just a half-step from tabloid TV).

(clip of president saying something earnest and denigrating about gay marriage)
Coworker: (smiles, seems to shake head, says something inaudible)
Me: I'm sorry?
C: (repeats inaudible remark, again inaudibly)
(MSNBC poll finds that 78% of those who support Bush favour banning gay marriage)
Me: Well, there's a surprise!
C: Huh?
Me: I said, "There's a surprise" (sarcastically) I mean, who would have guessed that?
C: (looks at me somewhat confusedly)
(MSNBC shows clip of Sen. Kerry, in debate, making the case for not depriving homosexuals of basic family rights just because they wwant to partner with someone of the same sex)
C: Wow, he's ugly!
Me: Huh?
C: I mean, look at his face. Would you want a president with a face that looked like that? I wouldn't. He just wouldn't look right. Not presidential.
Me: Perhaps you might choose your president on the basis of something a tad more rational, like what he thinks or says?

(OK, I didn't say that; I didn't say anything, since I seriously doubt anything I could have said would have been very productive.)

Comments

[tigrrl.livejournal.com]

Okay, Kerry doesn't have the best mug of the lot. But come on, we're putting him up against BUSH of all people. He looks and acts like a friggin' illiterate idiot, which is a tribute to his acting skills since he graduated from Yale, then Harvard MBA.

[winterbadger]

Yeah, I mean I thought the whole bo-tox rumour was so stupid I couldn't believe it. I thought "Who in the world would *care* whether someone's face were lined or not?" And, honestly, with Kerry's face, it would take a lot more than bo-tox to make him handsome. :-) But I just couldn't imagine that what someone's face looked like even entered into anyone's calculus about voting for president. Silly me.

Re:

[tigrrl.livejournal.com]

Yes, sadly, the way the person carries themselves, their gender, their grooming, their accent, how comfortable they are shaking hands and smiling as well as being confident (to the point of arrogant) and hard-hitting in debates, all these things are very important for a person to be elected president. Ugh.