Stunning

Until now I have been too stunned to comment on the recent election of Scott Brown to the United States Senate. But I regained my senses when I read Joan Vennochi’s OP-ED piece in the Boston Globe earlier this week. She suggested that he got elected, in part, because of his good looks!

I asked myself if it is possible that the American voting public is so shallow that they will actually vote for someone based on their looks. Then I recalled the 1960 Presidential debate between Richard Nixon and JFK. Polls taken immediately after the debate showed that voters who listened only to the radio broadcast thought that Nixon won the debate, while those who watched on television thought that JFK won. It seems that JFK’s good looks may have, indeed, influenced the voters…….and you’ll have to admit that Nixon was sweaty and badly in need of a shave!

But in the Brown–Coakley campaign was the outcome really a reflection of superficiality over substance as Joan seems to be suggesting? I don’t think so. But, I will acknowledge that her argument reminded me of a line from the famous children’s book, The Little Prince, written many years ago by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. In it, the Little Prince befriends a fox, who shares his secret: “everything essential is invisible to the eye”.

Only time will tell if the stunning Senator-Elect has the substance to lead effectively.