Dressing the part

One of the pivotal moments of the campaign, for me, was when some of Kerry's staff were on the front page of the times. There they stood, languidly leaning against door frames all tricked out in Armani, with a variety of wet-looking hair products gracing their follicles. And then, on election night, here's Terry McAuliffe with some curls and a mildly casual look, staring at the camera like something straight out of a Hogarth. Out of touch with the mainstream? Stylistically, yes. Idiots.

Time was, if you were in politics, where you stood didn't matter. You dressed to the middle. Button-down collars. Lame-assed ties. Plain blue suits with conservative lapels. And then you could say whatever you want. It was a way of saying to middle America: look at me, I look like you, and therefore the positions I'm taking can't be too alien either.

Somewhere along the way somebody forgot about this and the Democratic Party started dressing like it was headed in to work at Goldman Sachs. Good thinking!

On the other hand, the by now syllogistic assertion that a Northern Democrat can't win the White House (could Pataki or Giuliani, for that matter?), while true and pragmatic, is pretty sad. If the North abides Southerners in the White House, why can't the rest of the country live with a Yankee? Because we're catering to the least tolerant amongst us, that's why. "John Kerry, it's like he's from another country." Yeah right. I don't know what planet John Ashcroft is from. At least he's gone.