Why the silence on McCain's height?

Great Debates
1

If you had asked me a week or two ago to estimate John McCain’s height, I would have said around 5’11"-6’0". He never struck me as being shorter than average for a Republican politician from a western state.

But seeing Sarah Palin standing next to him and thinking, “Wow, she must be a tall woman” prompted me to google and learn that she’s around 5’6".

And that McCain is 5’7". If elected, he will be the shortest president since the 5’6" Benjamin Harrison in 1892.

And the fact that I didn’t know this prompts me to wonder why. Comics aren’t shy about poking fun at McCain’s age. But his height seems almost like a well-kept secret.

I remember the 1988 election, when there was a lot of political hay made about Michael Dukakis’ physical appearance, much of which referred to his height. The informal usage “Greek dwarf” was in play (My friends joked about it, and an article in the Washington Post about electoral mathematics quoted an unnamed source as saying, “No Greek dwarf will ever carry Texas”). Admittedly, Dukakis’ physical appearance and demeanor were a little easier to make fun of than McCain’s (although, there is that thing on his neck…)

More recently, there was Dennis Kucinich, who didn’t help things by marrying a woman a whole head taller than him.

I seriously doubt that height has become less desirable for a politician in the last twenty years (if anything, more so, as Americans keep getting taller).

One reason for the silence is obvious: McCain’s great physical courage during his military service certainly undercuts any claim that he’s a weak little dwarf.

But I’m asking, Why has McCain’s height not been mentioned as much as with other male presidential candidates of similar stature?

FTR, I’m an independent (social liberal, fiscal conservative, foreign policy smewhere in the middle). I’m very torn about who I’m voting for in November. I’m 5’7", and yes, a part of me thinks it would be kinda cool to have a fellow short guy (“white dwarf”?) in the White House. And I voted for Ron Paul (the libertarian candidate) in 1988 despite the fact that I’m also of half-Greek descent – a lot of Greeks I knew voted for Dukakis, even Republicans.

Apologies if this has been covered. A thread search was fruitless, but I think there was something malfunctioning in the search tool.

2

I don’t know why people haven’t been mentioning his height, but I’m glad they aren’t. It’s a stupid reason to vote for someone.

3

I agree it’s a stupid reason, but I’m wondering why the change.

4

Agreed that height is a stupid reason to vote or not vote for someone. But if McCain is as short as supposed, a lot of people are going to be surprised the first time they shake hands at the debate.

5

As they would have been the first time McCain and a tall running mate appeared together. I can imagine the VP search criteria (“pro-life, under 50, below 5’8”…")

Gives new meaning to the term, ‘short list’.

6

Why look all childish and mention it? Especially when Obama is going to take the opportunity at every debate to go shake his hand and tower over him. :slight_smile:

7

Short answer: McCain is a Republican, while Dukakis and Kucinich are Democrats, and Republicans are assholes when running campaigns and try to belittle any aspect of their opponent they can, even physical experience.

It’s a tactic that works like a charm.

8

I don’t think Republicans mentioned this much in 1988, IIRC. The media did, though. I remember John Lovitz on SNL portraying Dukakis at the debates - he’d step behind the podium, there would be a whirr of hydraulics, and he’d rise a foot taller.

The difference, in my opinion, is that nobody liked Dukakis. He was even hated by fellow Democrats for his sanctimony - and for being a loser, truly the unforgivable crime in politics.

9

He used to be taller but the Viet Cong beat him down.

10

If this is not a whoosh: Cite?

11

As long as we’re talking about irrelevant campaign topics that are mysteriously agreed upon by everyone to be irrelevant, can I ask why nobody except me seems to notice that John McCain’s voice sounds exactly like George W. Bush’s?

Every time he speaks on TV, I look up expecting to see the president. At the end of every political ad, a part of my brain actually hears, “I’m George Bush, and I approved this message”. It is eerie.

Why no democrats are taking advantage of this similarity, I don’t know.

12

I’m not familiar with Dukakis’ bio, so can you explain in what way he was a loser before losing the election ?

13

Cite? CITE??? Are you actually going to question the word of a War Hero? USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

FTR, I think it was a whoosh

14

While a candidate’s height and voice are stupid things to base a vote on, the fact that many voters are influenced by them makes them stupid things for anyone wanting to understand the electorate to ignore.

McCain is not without his Republican detractors. (I remember arguing about McCain during the 2000 primaries with my closest friend, a lifelong Republican. My friend supported Bush, and considered McCain a scumbag). I don’t see why Letterman and Leno would be influenced much by this anyway – a joke’s a joke.

The similarity is indeed striking, to the point where I sometimes have trouble telling which one it is when I tune in to one of them talking on the radio. Makes sense: Texas and Arizona aren’t very far apart.

15

There are lots of stupid reasons to vote/not vote, but if the 2004 debates are any indication, the network feed will make it a point to de-emphasize the candidates’ height. During those debates, Bush was positioned in side-by-side shots such that he looked to be the same height as Kerry.

The memo of understanding for the 2004 included provisions banning the use of risers to make the candidate look taller (the link is to a scanned document; the excerpt below is from sec. 9.b.i on pg.21):

However, camera shots of the candidates speaking were designed to give them the appearance of similar height; you can see video of the deates here, and although I haven’t found a side-by-side shot yet, you can see Bush’s podium is far higher in shots where he is speaking than with Kerry.

16

Interesting. I never realized that McCain was so short. Of course it’s irrellevant, but it will definitely make an impression on some people when he shakes hands with the 6’2" Obama at the debate. I remember that from the Dukakis debate.

17

McCain was 6’4" before breaking his legs in the plane crash, after which the Vietnamese torturers slowly removed parts of his shattered legs (and a few vertabrae) trying to get him to talk, but he stood tall (as tall as the fiends would allow him to be, anyway) and that’s why he’s only 5’6" now–you may mock his heroism, and courage, and patriotism all you like, but he gave those 8 inches so you can live as free people today, and he’ll do it again if he needs to (he’s offered to go as low as 4’10") for the U.S.

Country first! Truth last!!

18

Comedians tend to harp on one or two things about a politician. For McCain it isn’t that he is short, it’s that he’s old.

For Obama it’s his speaking style and his ears.

19

I would describe Dukakis as a weak politician who would have been better as a law or economics professor than at national elective office. He came off as a dull, smug know-it-all, or at least provided enough fodder for the Republicans (and the media) to successfully portray him that way. I remember the derision that he’d taken a book on Swedish land-use planning with him on vacation, suggesting his dullness and lack of passion. (Bill Clinton was at least as wonky, but his good-old-boy tomcat personality would have made right-wing spin on this look silly). When Howard Stern speculated that Kitty Dukakis’ drinking problems were caused by her husband having a small penis, it made a Howard-Stern-like sense.

Even with wonk-type stuff, his record was far from perfect: although it wasn’t until after the 1988 election, the economic prosperity he ran on (‘the Massachusetts Miracle’) went south.

That said, he was on the right side of the pledge of allegiance issue, but that doesn’t always win elections.

Also, he was from the northeast. And in America today, we require our presidents to at least try to appear rural and southern (and our country singers to sing with drawls), even if we know they’re faking it. :smiley:

And let’s not forget… he was short.

20

:rolleyes:

The real reason McCain is short is that he comes from solid Navy stock. If he were 6’4", his father would have suspected his mother of adultery. Navy craft (sea & air) are not designed for tall men, but for men of average height. Tall fellows not only bump their heads below decks; they have a harder time staying upright on small boats than do squat solid men with McCain’s build.

:p;)