# Did Romney darken his face to appeal to Latino voters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 20, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316 "2012-09-20T21:11:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/1 "2012-09-20T21:11:08Z")
[http://gawker.com/5944931/mitt-romney-dyed-his-face-brown-to-appeal-to-latino-voters](http://gawker.com/5944931/mitt-romney-dyed-his-face-brown-to-appeal-to-latino-voters) > [@](#): > > Mitt Romney currently trails President Obama among registered Latino voters by nearly 40%, and getting caught saying things like “it would be helpful to be Latino” certainly isn’t helping. > > But has it gotten so bad that Romney is now resorting to “brownface” in order to make himself more appealing to Univision viewers? You have to look at the photos at that link to see what they’re talking about. I thought that it might be photoshopped, but you can also see it in the video. You can see the makeup line near his collar and around his ear. [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/mitt-romney-campaign-100-percent-17276097](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/mitt-romney-campaign-100-percent-17276097) It just strikes me as ludicrous that he would intentionally do that. Nobody is _that_ clueless, right? It has to be an unintentional bad makeup job, right? Maybe the makeup people at Univision punked him! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/2 "2012-09-20T21:17:35Z")
I’m going to pray to Joseph Smith that this was just a shitty make up job to make him look tanner in sunny Miami or something. He undoubtedly went overboard with the Oompa Loompa make up job, but I sure as shit hope he didn’t get dressed up in black face --or brown face, whatever-- to better appeal to the dark people. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/3 "2012-09-20T21:25:25Z")
I’m gonna give this one to Romney and say that it’s a bad make up job by his team. But I SOOO hope I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/4 "2012-09-20T21:28:21Z")
In the video there appears to be a little bit of paleness around his eyes that’s roughly the shape of sunglasses, so I’m guessing sunshine is the culprit. That said, the shade looks remarkably similar to tan-in-a-can. But that’s probably because of the blue blood. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/5 "2012-09-20T21:30:27Z")
> [@Dahnlor](#): > > In the video there appears to be a little bit of paleness around his eyes that’s roughly the shape of sunglasses, so I’m guessing sunshine is the culprit. > > That said, the shade looks remarkably similar to tan-in-a-can. But that’s probably because of the blue blood. I don’t know. Check out the makeup line in this photo. [http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17zpgfz1pgyy1jpg/original.jpg](http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17zpgfz1pgyy1jpg/original.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/6 "2012-09-20T21:37:21Z")
I thought he was Latino. Or Hispanic. Wasn’t his father born in Mexico? ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/7 "2012-09-20T21:39:21Z")
No, but it looks like he’s been sharing Boehner’s make-up artist. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/8 "2012-09-20T21:41:04Z")
How is this supposed to work exactly? Are people proposing that if Romney looks a little more tan, Latinos will just like him better because… what? Because they tend to have darker skin? So if Romney looks a bit darker on one TV appearance, they’ll forget he’s a white guy? I’m going to vote bad makeup because this makes zero sense. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/9 "2012-09-20T21:41:50Z")
Darnit, there goes my “Getting a Boehner job” joke. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/10 "2012-09-20T21:43:06Z")
It’s a bad application of bronzer. Good make-up artists are well worth the cost. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/11 "2012-09-20T21:45:09Z")
It’s all over the web that he was trying to look Latino, but it has to be bad makeup job. I just can’t believe that he’s _that_ clueless. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/12 "2012-09-20T21:48:34Z")
The thought process being that, with the darker makeup, even if one Latino dude watching says “Hey, that guy looks like my cousin Chuey, I’m voting for _him_!” then Romney’s just increased his Latino support by 10%. Worth it. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/13 "2012-09-20T21:52:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I thought he was Latino. Or Hispanic. Wasn’t his father born in Mexico? His great-grandfather moved to Mexico (with his four wives) to escape U.S. anti-polygamy laws, and his grandfather and father were both born in a Mormon colony in Mexico, but Romney has explained that his family has no Hispanic heritage and has never even spoken Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/14 "2012-09-20T21:55:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > How is this supposed to work exactly? Are people proposing that if Romney looks a little more tan, Latinos will just like him better because… what? Because they tend to have darker skin? So if Romney looks a bit darker on one TV appearance, they’ll forget he’s a white guy? I’m going to vote bad makeup because this makes zero sense. I think it’s a little more subtle than that-think “working man’s tan”. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/15 "2012-09-20T21:58:12Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > His great-grandfather moved to Mexico (with his four wives) to escape U.S. anti-polygamy laws, and his grandfather and father were both born in a Mormon colony in Mexico, but Romney has explained that his family has no Hispanic heritage and has never even spoken Spanish. Thanks, but I’m pretty sure TriPolar is aware of this and is commenting on Romney’s awkward insistence on shoehorning his connection to Mexico into every conversation. I think. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/16 "2012-09-20T22:00:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I think it’s a little more subtle than that-think “working man’s tan”. Now that’s at least somewhat credible. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/17 "2012-09-20T22:07:41Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Thanks, but I’m pretty sure TriPolar is aware of this and is commenting on Romney’s awkward insistence on shoehorning his connection to Mexico into every conversation. I think. Yeah that, and every other silly thing that can be said about this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/18 "2012-09-20T23:38:17Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I just can’t believe that he’s _that_ clueless. How many times recently have we heard somebody say this about Romney? 😃 He looks like everybody on TV news these days. When they make them up, they have to go with a darker base to hide blemishes, freckles, age spots, etc., and they all end up looking like George Hamilton in the '80s. Even though I _can_ believe he’s that clueless, I still think it was just a very bad makeup job. If he was trying to look “more Hispanic,” he would have darkened his hands as well, and they look just as pasty white and uncalloused as always. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/19 "2012-09-20T23:43:46Z")
Any darker and he’s singing Mammy. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316/20 "2012-09-20T23:52:54Z")
I’m sure it’s just a bad make-up job but it’s an unfortunate audience to have that happen in front of. Maybe his make-up person is an Obama supporter gone rogue. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-romney-darken-his-face-to-appeal-to-latino-voters/635316.md?page=2)