Which candidate is the most Presidential?

[Peeance Freeance]

I think it's Kerry. In the panel after the debate, so did most of the pundits there. I would go as far as to say Kerry is the only one that looks "presidential." It's probably the added weight of national security credentials this election, which he has and the others don't.

[mopinko]

1. wow

what a great issue to campaign on.

[Dookus]

3. I don't think Kerry plans to campaign on the issue

but it would be silly to pretend nobody can discuss it or that nobody considers it.

[maxanne]

5. since Kerry can't seem to decide

where he stands on so many issues - he might as well. :)

[boxster]

9. Or that people have voted based on it for decades.

I guess we should all start looking for an unpresidential-looking, unelectable candidate since electability and presidential-like behavior is supposedly meaningless.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

23. LOL! You nailed it!!!

Bush the younger would be f'ing nowhere without his supposed presidential demeanor and mantle. Too bad for him the package's been opened and everyone now knows it's empty.

[boxster]

25. The scary thing is...

I live in Nebraska, heart of the red states. I cannot count the number of people who told me they were voting for Bush because of his demeanor and he's "like your neighbor".

Had people actually looked at the issues and looked at the stupid things that come out of his mouth, Gore wins in a landslide.

[Peeance Freeance]

11. Precisely. Presidentiality will be the FIRST consideration

for most voters.

[One Taste]

6. I agree issues should be talked about

a TON more than who looks "presidential."

That said,:)

1. Kerry
2. Clark
3. Edwards
4. Gephardt
5. Dean
6. Kucinich
7. Moseley-Braun
8. Lieberman
9. Sharpton

[corporatewhore]

2. and i thought having guts and a spine ina difficult time made you pres

material

[Dookus]

4. is the assumption that Kerry

has no spine and no guts?

I think that's incorrect.

[cavebat2000]

8. I feel as though he doesn't

and I vote.

[4morewars]

7. No

it's the suit

[Vickers]

10. That may be true, but Edwards is prettier.

:eyes:

[mountainvue]

12. From

the very early debates, I have always thougth Kerry to be the most presidential and qualified to handle the job.

[Goldmund]

13. What does "presidential" mean?

As silly as the British monarchy system is, it does have one clear advantage: the bulk of partiotic symbolism, the veneer and the national imagery, is with the Queen -- she is expected to look "presidential". The people who actually make decisions are simply public servants. Nobody in Britain asks "are you actually implying that the Prime Minister of Great Britain lied???", and that very argument worked here for years before W went a little too far. Even now, were it not for the quasi-royalistic connotation of Amerian presidency, many more people would realize what kind of characters we have at the helm of the government.

[spooky3]

14. Using that criterion, no woman and no black person would ever be

elected, since none of them look like any prior President.

What in the h*** does it mean to "look Presidential"?

[Peeance Freeance]

16. Feinstein looks Presidential. Most of the past presidents don't.

Looking Presidential is more than just what they've looked like in the past. Most of the past presidents don't look presidential but it didn't matter as much then.

[arewethereyet]

15. Edwards

nobody commands their presence as he does.

[mgc1961]

17. Well...

...at least he's tall.

[fromadam]

18. In terms of life experience? gravitas? Wes Clark

er... was that one of the choices?

[arewethereyet]

19. no, only candidates

[Auntie Bush]

20. CLARK is by far the most presidential. n/t

[diamondsoul]

21. Kucinich, and YES I'm serious.

"Presidential", cripes what a stupid adjective for what someone looks like!

What exactly IS "Presidential" looking? Kind of relative, don't you think?

I think Dennis Kucinich looks Presidential because he looks like a regular guy. The same regular guy I'd bump into at the farmer's market and stop to chit-chat or comiserate with about the economy or the weather, or how I have tomato bugs in my garden so I had to buy some this month.

THAT'S the guy I want making decisions that affect my life and future, because he knows what my life and future mean and how at risk they are right now. Don't bother me with looks when my freaking LIFE is on the line!

[vision]

22. Here is what Presidents look like

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/prespSubjects01.html

Click on a president and you will know if somebody is Presidential from the chinless John Adams, the wild hair of James Buchanan, the portly Grover Cleveland, beetle-eyed Nixon, etc. Very few are the elusive "Presidential."

By today's standards few would look good as Presidents those would be IMO:

Clinton
JFK
Franklin Pierce
FDR
Ronnie Reagan

Can you imagine if Teddy Roosevelt tried to run today? He was short, wore glasses and had a squeaky/high voice! He would be laughed off the stage. Lets not even mention "ugly" Lincoln, "wooden-teeth" Washington, or "four-eyes" Truman.

"Gravitas" means spit to me. How and where they stand on the issues is what makes one Presidential to me.

[snoochie]

24. Kucinich, obviously

The rest of them wouldn't know how to lead unless you paid them to act like they did.

And as for the media pundits saying Kerry was presidential? I don't even want to say it... it seems too obvious... I think it's too late for this party.