Hot or Not Elections

We would all like to believe that we live in a democracy populated by informed voters that cast their ballots based on a candidate’s credentials and perceived ability to lead, but how much of that perception has to do with ‘looking’ like a leader?

Appearance came into politics with force after The Great Debate between Nixon and Kennedy. It was the first presidential debate to be televised and Kennedy’s more youthful appearance gained him widespread support. More recently though political science researchers at MIT have discovered that there is somewhat of an international idea of what a good leader looks like. In the study they showed people in the United States and Canada pictures of election match ups in Mexico and Brazil. Participants were able to predict the election outcomes with 68% accuracy based on physical appearance alone. Even more surprising, the people from India and the United States chose the same candidate 75% of the time. Despite vastly different cultures and ideals of beauty, all four populations had similar ideas of what a good leader looks like.

In another study, researchers found that “low-information voters”, or people in the lowest quartile of political knowledge, were most heavily influenced by a candidates physical appearance. The effect was magnified by the amount of time the voter spent watching television. To me, this is very concerning. I never realized that the attack ads and incessant campaign ads actually worked, even after having interned on a senatorial campaign. I remember one of the staffers telling me, “Politics are nasty. We do what it takes to win, and trust me if people didn’t respond to nasty we wouldn’t use it”. The combined effect of low-information voters being swayed by appearances is roughly equal to the advantage of being an incumbent, researchers found. Again, this is a red flag. Human behavior isn’t going to change on it’s own, which makes me believe we need stricter campaign laws. If appearances alone can determine an election, something has to change.

I liken the dangers of looks being able to win elections, to the dangers of rhetoric alone winning elections. Charismatic and verbose leaders can sometimes be the most dangerous, igniting violence and spewing hatred with their words. There is danger in electing any sort of leader without first considering their qualifications. A country cannot be lead by a pretty face or great speeches; we need a doer.