Did Palin's looks hurt?

[Bravo Zulu]

A new article in the Journal of Experimental psychology makes the case that Sarah Palin's looks -- and the focus on them -- hurt her and John McCain in November's election.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/30276

Personally, I didn't think she was qualified to be Vice President!

[polichick]

1. She wasn't even close to being qualified to be veep!!!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. ever read the Hitchhiker's Guide 5 part trilogy?

Sarah Palin was playing the role of distractor, much like Beeblebrox.

[polichick]

4. Problem is, nobody told her that. :)

[verges]

39. Bud didn't

Zaphod know it? Still, it would have been amusing if Sarah had stolen a space ship!

[Captain Hilts]

3. Yes, but appearances matter, a LOT. Men who are shorter and women, in general...

are adversely affected by how people perceive their looks. If a woman is too good looking, it actually hurts. If they're not good looking, that hurts too. You have to be something in between.

The detailed discussion that women's appearances - appearance, clothes - generate is demeaning.

Being tall contributes to the appearance of being a 'leader'.

And, no, she wasn't qualified.

[Demobrat]

5. They wouldn't have hurt if she hadn't dressed like she did.

Everything she wore was calculated to call attention to her sexuality. If she had dressed like H Clinton her looks would not have been a factor. But she made sure they were, and it backfired.

[YOY]

6. If she actually knew Africa was a continent and not a country and actually read periodicals.

It might have helped as well. Just a fucking though.

[nomorenomore08]

38. "Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease."

Oh, wait, wrong idiot...

[YOY]

45. Same vein of idiocy

n.t.

[backscatter712]

7. Not as much as...

being further to the right than Genghis Khan,
being about as corrupt as Rod Blagojevich,
signing off on hunting wolves via helicopter, against the advice of ecologists and forest-service officials, not to mention being just plain cruel,
inappropriate winking and flirting during her debate when people were wanting someone who's actually serious about the nation's problems,
being completely unable to handle interviews and even softball questions from Katie Couric, or even able to pass a Turing Test,
talking about the campaign trail being brutal in front of turkeys getting their heads cut off (OK, that one happened after the election),
going to a wacko Pentecostal church and being blessed by a witch-hunter,
pumping her audiences full of hatred, just short of overt calls for violence,
and just being dumber than a sack of hammers.

I'm sure there's more...

[acmavm]

47. I agree with you.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. What hurt Sarah Palin was her overwhelming lack of experience and

qualifications for the office. Her tv interviews just drove that home. I believe that many people who might have voted for McCain were put off by the apparent desperation shown by the Republican party when they put her on the ticket. I don't think her looks were a big factor one way or the other.

[Andy823]

9. Wasn't her looks

It was her "attitude" and big mouth that got her in trouble, that and no experience at all to be the person a heart beat away from running this country! She went after the right wing wackos because she is one also, and any "sane" republican knew she was not the right person for the job.

[trueblue2007]

34. Palin was nothing more than a Barbie doll

She is stupid.

<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[T Wolf]

10. Yes, they hurt - my eyes. But the fact that she was less-ugly than Limpballs enabled

the pukes to blame all her failures on that, instead of her total lack of ethics, intelligence and empathy.

[FLyellowdog]

11. No, I think her looks helped get them many of the male votes.

Not to be sexist, but we KNOW how some of these rednecks think. They thought she was so hot they forgot their mantra of "Pregnant in the summer and barefoot in the winter." Sad.

[Jennicut]

12. If she was ugly she'd still be stupid

[noiretextatique]

13. palin tried to use her looks to mask her incompetence

she's nothing like the very attractive and very smart women i know who are judged because of the way the look. palin was hoping no one would notice how stupid she is.

[hileeopnyn8d]

14. Did Palin's looks hurt?

In what respect, Charlie?

:p

[hileeopnyn8d]

15. Sorry, double post. n/t

[Pisces]

16. No, her lack of brains hurt her.

[billybob537]

17. Right it had nothing to do with her two digit IQ

[jenmito]

18. There's no way she would've gotten even NEARLY as much support as she got (from men

at least) if she didn't look like "the sexy librarian." She was NEVER on camera without her lip gloss and stylish glasses.

[bunkerbuster1]

19. Given that I never found her all that attractive...

I can't imagine that they did. But what do I know.

Really never got the "she is so HAWT" business from the right, regarding Palin. She's kept herself in good shape, has a pleasant enough face, hardly stunning; she was dressed like a typical HR director, which may light some guys' fires, but me... meh.

[NatBurner]

50. me neither. her humongous jawbone reminded me of this guy:

[Orsino]

20. They were her single qualification.

Without them, she would never have made the city council, much less mayor or governor. And being pretty was the only balance Palin brought to the presidential ticket.

[Kahuna]

21. They purposely sexed her up with the tight clothing, makeup and hair..

If she had had any substance, they wouldn't have bothered.

[asteroid2003QQ47]

22. Rocks are more intelligent than Sarah, that's what hurt her most! n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. No, her brain hurt.

Just like it always does when she thinks too hard.

[ejpoeta]

24. NO! it was her total lack of knowledge on virtually any subject. period!

[ecstatic]

25. I think women are penalized harder for being stupid

We're also penalized (in the court of public opinion) for being smart too, so I guess it's a lose lose. LOL

[Clio the Leo]

26. If anything her looks HELPED her.....

... if she had been THAT stupid AND ugly, she would have never made it as far as she did.

[alphafemale]

35. I don't think she was all that attractive really.

She just had that giggly, flirty? thing going on. I guess a 40+ woman still acting like a silly middle-schooler may be attractive to some people. ewww

[spanone]

27. i think if anything they helped her...if she was that stupid and looked like olive oil.....

they wouldn't have run her

[Vinca]

28. To quote Judge Judy, "Beauty fades, dumb is forever." Palin was dumb. nt

[sunnybrook]

29. I think women are judged in a different way

But of course she was totally incompetent and did sexualize her looks. I mean, her red stillettos were hot but inappopriate. Just like it would be inappropriate for me to show cleavage at work. But even before she opened her mouth, the mere idea that she was a beauty pageant contestant... that speaks volumes. Good for the base! But her looks were the least of her problems...

[Cha]

30. Yeah, right..that's as deep

as they're going get..palin's looks.

[MiniMe]

31. Personally, I think it was her mouth more than anything

Not how it looked, but what came out of it.

[BlooInBloo]

32. Um... her looks were the only thing she had going for her....

And in a Presidential election, that ain't much.

[Orangepeel]

33. It hurt that she looks kind of like Tina Fey

because if she didn't, a lesser comic would have portrayed her. She still would have been a ridiculous candidate, but it wouldn't have been as funny.

[Yavin4]

36. Being a Mental Lightweight in Heavyweight Times Hurt Her More

Bush being a moron in 2000 was seen as okay by some because we were in very lightweight times. No major crisis. A growing economy. Peace.

In 2008, the world was much, much different. We were, and still are, up to our necks in shit.

[mascarax]

37. I think it was Palin's BRAIN that hurt!

After the infamous Couric interviews, she scared many people...and not just Dems.

She isn't even qualified to be town mayor (even though she was).

[verges]

40. Sarah who?

Oh yeah, didn't she run for something?

[Starry Messenger]

41. Strange they would ask that question.

I just don't think she was very smart. And there were so many other misfires by that "campaign" I wonder why they would come to that conclusion!?

I mean, what about that prank phone call from the DJ pretending to be Sarkozy? The witch-hunter preacher? Joe the Plumber? Ashley Todd? "I'm suspending my campaign"...? McTongue?

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

42. the fact that she was pretty was an asset for a lot of republican males. nt

[leftofthedial]

43. they didn't hurt me.

Until she opened her yap.

[LynnTheDem]

44. I just thought she was one of the stupidest idiots out of a slew of deeply stupid idiots

from the rightwingnuttery.

Didn't give a shit about how she looked.

[ErinBerin84]

46. net positive for her.

[nyc 4 Biden]

48. It doesn't surprise me that Politco is behind this story.

What's next, McCain was too much of an American hero?

[Juche]

49. Her looks just made her easy to stereotype into a bimbo

That is the impression I got from the article.

I wonder what happens when you have a competent, attractive woman up on the political stage, what the effects are. Do people take her more or less seriously?

[Leo The Cleo]

51. I don't know that her lookd hurt her

It is possible that some didn't take her seriously because they thought her to be attractive. It is also a certainty that some didn't think take her seriously because she's a woman. It is also very certain that some didn't her seriously because she's inarticulate and unqualified. But for as many who didn't take her seriously, there were some that took supported her despite it all. There are those who overlooked everything. So, were her looks a drag on her. Might have been. However, it was also a buoy for her. No one ever said that buoys were made for easy cruising.

The simple fact of the matter is that Dan Quayle, who was a joke to many, served longer in politics than she. He was a lawyer and an experienced member of Congress. So, if in this modern era, public opinion states that he wasn't ready and that he was too inexperienced (thought his ticket won), then how could she possibly have been qualified? At the end of the day, I believe her looks were a boon for. However, her looks simply don't work for me. Just not a fan of her.