Local politicians find good looks count

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Candidates' looks.

State Rep. Gloria Haskins, R-Greenville, said she knows how much they count, especially for female politicians. Women are expected to dress well, she said, while men can get away with messy hair and wearing the same suit all the time.

"I hope we would judge people on the content of their message and not how they look," Haskins said. "But let's face it — sometimes the other prevails."

New research is helping shed light on why the electorate tends to back the beautiful and what a pretty face can mean in politics.

A candidate's good looks can help raise money, capture media attention and gain voters' trust, according to researchers at Northern Illinois University and Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

"Looks activate stereotypes," said James Schubert, an NIU political science professor. "People apply stereotypes when they make social judgments."

Voters prefer male candidates with a baby face or strong, chiseled features, Schubert said. Beards that hide expressions hurt candidates, he said.

The beauty factor is just as true for local elections as the race for president, Schubert said.

Tony Trout, a candidate for Greenville County Council, has shaved his face clean for the second time in about 30 years.

"Nobody votes for people with a mustache," he said.

Steve Selby, the incumbent Trout is trying to unseat, said his opponent is better looking, so he's counting on another factor to carry him to victory.

"My clean record helps me better than my clean look," he said.

A popular perception holds that attractiveness hurts female candidates, Schubert said, but his research doesn't support that. Elizabeth Dole did "very well" in a study of the 2000 Republican presidential candidates, although she dropped out sooner than researchers expected, he said.

But even when a woman does all she can, such as wearing nice clothes, her message can be lost, Haskins said.

"Sometimes I'll be speaking on an issue and folks will comment that they saw me on TV and they loved my pink coat," Haskins said. "And I'll say, 'But I was talking about criminal domestic violence.' "

Anecdotal evidence that looks matter is mounting.

Voters have chosen just two presidents with facial hair, Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft, since newspapers started publishing photographs in 1903, Schubert said.

In 1960, a tanned John F. Kennedy won the presidency after facing off against a pallid Richard Nixon in the nation's first televised presidential debate.

California recently elected Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's second movie star-turned-governor. Sen. John Kerry has bristled at suggestions that he made wrinkles disappear with Botox.

But beauty doesn't guarantee victory, Schubert said. Dan Quayle rated as the most attractive presidential candidate in the 2000 Republican primary, while George W. Bush was in the middle of the pack, he said.

Seneca-born Sen. John Edwards came in as the best-looking Democrat this year, while Kerry, who has the most delegates, is doing better than researchers predicted, Schubert said.

State Sen. Karl Allen, D-Greenville, has won two elections with a goatee. Voters, he said, want candidates who can provide solutions, regardless of looks.

"You shouldn't put on any false fronts," Allen said. "It's kind of like what they see is what they get."

Schubert began his research with a Romanian election in 1996.

He showed enlarged pictures of the 16 male candidates to a variety of people, including U.S. adults, Indonesian adults and high school students living on islands off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

They often predicted the top vote-getters despite knowing nothing about Romanian politics, he said. Participants judged by "looks alone," Schubert said.

While Selby isn't trying to outdo Trout in the beauty department, the councilman is on a diet and hopes to lose 50 pounds.

"It's for my health," he said.

Paul Alongi can be reached at 298-4746.