Discussion: Gohmert Jokingly Floats Presidential Run

[system1]

Discussion for article #234758

[estamm]

No bald presidents? Don’t tell Trump!!!

[jeffgee1]

Says the hunka hunka burnin’ stoopid.

[jw1]

There Can Be No ‘Bald Presidents’

No other states need apply!
Louie Gohmert FTW!
We Texans can once again hoist the ever-so-coveted Dumbest Congressman Pennant proudly!

jw1

[mcbain]

Bald Presidents we can deal with. Idiots as President is something we have a hard time with.

[mattinpa]

Yiddish proverb: Many complain of their looks, but none of their brains.

[mantan]

Does Gohmert do anything other than have “a little fun with reporters” at the public’s expense?

[manutgop]

It’s what is on the other side of the follicles that counts, Gomer.

[iann]

I don’t know. We have a psychopath (Ted Cruz), a dumbass (Trump), brainless (Rick Perry), gormless (Scott Walker), and common senseless (Ben Carson). So why not have someone with all the above qualities and bald to boot. It will be a field truly representative of its base.

[jacksonhts]

Dwight Eisenhower was bald. He was also a military war hero and a Republican. Before the end of his last term, he warned the country about the expanding power of the growing Military-Industrial Complex. He was the President during the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v Board of Ed, which lead to Southern “massive resistance” which, in one form or another, lives on today in the obstructionist do-nothing Dixiecrat-GOP party of Louis Gohmert. I can see why Gohmert’s fictionalized view of American History has erased President Eisenhower.

[darrtown]

Well I guess that leaves EISENHOWER out then.

Jesus, Gohmert, how stupid can one human be?

[darrtown]

I had the distinct honor to shake Ike’s hand during one of his visits to Los Angeles while he was POTUS. I was awed. Well mostly because I was 8 years old at the time.

[ralph_vonholst]

Unconscious assessments of “perceived competence” influence voters:

A pair of scientists at Princeton University took that line of research
from the laboratory to the real world. They gathered black-and-white
headshots of all the Democratic and Republican candidates in dozens of
US Senate and gubernatorial races. They then recruited a group of
volunteers to assess, in each case, which candidate looked more
“competent”. Finally, the scientists took a bold step: they predicted
the outcome of each race based solely on the candidates’ appearance.
They were strikingly accurate: the candidate voted as more
competent-looking went on to win in 69% of the gubernatorial races and
72% of the Senate races.

A candidate's looks count for far more than voters like to believe | Leonard...

In addition: On the Face of It: The Psychology of Electability | The New Yorker

Also, facial hair is the kiss of death:

Author A.D. Perkins, writing in his 2001 book One Thousand Beards: a Cultural History of Facial Hair, notes that modern-day politicians are routinely instructed by their advisers and other handlers to “remove all traces of facial hair” before launching a campaign for fear of resembling “Lenin and Stalin (or Marx for that matter).”…“The beard has been the kiss of death for Western politicians …” Perkins writes.

Here are the 11 US Presidents Who Had Beards

And a preference for “earth-tones” and elbow-patched tweeds, is, of course, right out.

So, yeah, a whole lot of voters are shallow. But then, we knew that.

[stephen_maturin]

I still like Charles Pierce’s characterization of him as “Emperor for Life of the Crazy People in the Reign of Morons."

[meangreen]

Gohmert you egg head ! You wouldn’t even win your own state, you wouldn’t win one state, your one win would be your district.

[benthere]

I think Gohmert should have said that “there should be no baldly stupid candidates for President.” That would apply to many, whatever the amount of hair on their heads…

[stevojax]

Texas seems to put forth the most ignorant candidates. Ghomert, Perry, of course GW , Joe Barton. I think what happens is that the lobbyist and moneyed interest groups pick the candidate and they dress them up for an election. Parade them around the state for prayer meetings and coach them on the evils of government and when they get elected they can’t answer questions on their feet. Lyndon Johnson was okay to discuss issues but didn’t always agree with him , but he never accused anyone of casting aspersions on his asparagus or complained that Gynecologist could no longer make love to their patients , or that his most memorable time in office was when he caught that big bass on his ranch.

[brooklyndweller]

There CAN be bald presidents. There CANNOT be howler monkey presidents.

(Although W came close).

[callmeeric]

“The aide said Gohmert believed his lack of hair would be a major hindrance to trying to run for president.”

I bet seven years ago he would have said the same thing about a black man becoming president. And tomorrow he might say the same thing about a woman becoming president.

Never say never dumbass.

[dr_coyote]

It’s not the absence of hair on your dome, Louie. It’s the absence of absolutely anything BENEATH it. You’re too stupid even to clear the Bush-43-adjusted-downward-for-Texas “minimum IQ” bar.