The Secret Presidential-Campaign Dress Code
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Americana CosplayOne of the most memorable scenes from HBO’s political satire Veep is an unsettlingly realistic campaign spot . Jonah Ryan, a WASPy, weaselly Capitol Hill aide, attempts to rebrand himself as an everyman when he runs for Congress. In lieu of his navy blazer and khakis, Jonah dons a flannel shirt and a puffy vest, and chops wood (poorly). He looks uncomfortable merely holding the axe, let alone swinging it.
I thought of Jonah this past weekend as former Vice President Mike Pence rolled into Des Moines, Iowa, straddling a Harley-Davidson. Pence mugged for the cameras in a black leather vest, jeans, and cowboy boots. To be fair, Pence was the only presidential candidate who actually rode a motorcycle to Senator Joni Ernst’s annual “Roast and Ride” charity glad-handing event, so he deserves a little bit of credit. But the photos were, well, quite funny . Pence has spent years cultivating a distinct personal image—that of a stoic, soft-spoken churchgoer who never has a hair out of place. Picture Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider , then imagine his exact opposite: That’s Pence.
Still … at least he didn’t autograph a Bible! Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida was also in Iowa this past weekend, and he graciously signed someone’s copy of the good book. (His wife, Casey, was photographed in her own motorcycle leather, adorned with an image of Florida, a gator, and the phrase where woke goes to die . She and her husband took an SUV, not a hog, to the event.)
As his campaign gets under way, DeSantis is also undergoing a Jonah-like evolution. He holds degrees from Harvard and Yale, yet he’s still learning basic retail-politics skills. My colleague Mark Leibovich recently observed DeSantis up close on the trail in New Hampshire. While working the rope line at an American Legion hall, DeSantis “smiled for the camera like the dentist had just asked him to bite down on a blob of putty; like he was trying to make a mold, or to fit one,” Leibovich wrote .
To be sure, the performative “I’m just like you” campaign pitch is by no means a purely Republican phenomenon. Remember in 2015, when Hillary Clinton informed us that she was “just chillin’ in Cedar Rapids” ? Or way back in 2003, when John Kerry tried to court Philadelphia voters by visiting the divey cheesesteak mecca Pat’s and doomed his campaign by asking for Swiss cheese instead of Whiz ?
In the last presidential election cycle, after being dogged by accusations of hiding from the coronavirus pandemic in his basement, Joe Biden released his own how-do-you-like-me-now campaign ad. As an electric guitar strummed in the background, Biden revved the engine of his convertible Corvette Stingray, then tore off down what looked like a very safe private road, ostensibly in support of an electric-vehicle future. The spot unintentionally called to mind the 2009 Onion headline “ Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am in White House Driveway .”
I asked my colleague Amanda Mull, who spent 10 years in the fashion industry and writes about consumerism, why presidential candidates lean into the same form of über-Americana year after year. “Politics is a strange industry full of fundamentally strange people who mostly don’t quite realize how odd they are,” she said.
She went on, “This working-man Americana cosplay is, on some level, an acknowledgement that politicians exist separately from regular people, and it’s an attempt to bridge a gap on an aesthetic level that they are incapable of bridging interpersonally. But they’re weird guys, so the end result is the exact opposite—they look so uncomfortable, so uncanny in their little jeans and boots, that they might as well have just landed from outer space.”
The current Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, skipped Iowa altogether this past weekend, but rest assured, he’s been busy doing his own pandering. Last week, Trump proposed a yearlong “Salute to America 250” party to be held at the Iowa state fairgrounds in celebration of the country’s coming semiquincentennial in 2026. “Together we will build it, and they will come,” Trump proclaimed. You could virtually smell the rising corn.
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Pence's campaign slogan: I Ride a Hog, Never Karen!
I'm waiting for pence to claim that god told him to run. that's always gone over gangbusters...
He calls her "Mother"...
so very freudian...
the GOP has got almost all their token coalition bases covered for the 2024 primaries...
And the democrats have the eccentric uncle/grandpa that everyone is gathering for the reading of the will even though he hasn't croaked yet.........................
God, that is sick.
You're in the will, you get 27 unfinished and indestructible Hunter artworks. Blessed are the critics!
how unoriginal
My dad called her Mother of 3, she called him Father of 2. He never repeated the slight.
Everybody should ignore him. He only came here to cause trouble
Tissue? Sorry for dropping in...........seemed appropriate since it wasn't the usual echo chamber.
You are always welcome in my unusual echo canyon.
Thanks.................
You'll regret this...
I don't need one but you might
Hallux is a lot nicer than me
Never a doubt about that.......................
Jim and I have known each other for nigh on a decade, we got over the rough spots in the first 6 months.
always the whiny ones who think they're making us cry
now ticket this JJ!
This is to everyone in this thread.
I got a pile of flags from you all, but I am not going to respond to them, since I see a lot of tit for tat going on. That being said, it stops now, or big tickets will be handed out.
so of course my comment is the only one deleted
one of the reasons I don't spend so much time here anymore
I get so tired of the whiny little crybabies who ticket my every comment
Is flagging comments that you don't like the same as tattle telling and expecting mon to fix it? I've never flagged.
This is the last thing I'll say on the subject, a quote I saved on Facebook
"Some of the best advice I've been given: Don't take criticism from people you would never go to for advice"- Morgan Freeman
that's how I feel about certain members here on NT
a little life lesson
If the comments were worth anything, the moderators would let them stand as they wouldn't warrant a ticket. We should all know that by now. It's sad that you feel so picked on.
No it was a mistake deletion. Now all of you better knock it off.
I just gag at the thought of pence 'straddling a Harley in a black leather vest, jeans, and cowboy boots' . . . and assless chaps
lol
that's how he kick starts mothers engine a little after dinner...
oh wait, I forgot, they only have sex to procreate. I guess that ship sailed long ago...
the GOP field of candidates reminds me of a gathering of relatives for the reading of the eccentric uncle's will, before he's even croaked...
Do you think he will eat any corn? It's pretty messy when eaten right
I was born in England, corn is fit for a Trump swine food only.
We Americans love our sweet corn. It's not the same corn fed to cows
I'll stay with Bubble and Squeak ... stuff is rib-sticking oink!
In MD the thing was, I believe it was called, silver queen corn. Grown around there every year. Always got if fresh and had to husk the things.
Yes, my parents grew it every year in their garden but I always preferred the Salt and Butter variety.
My dad grew Silver Queen, it was the best !
We grew Peaches and Cream (yellow and white combo) and always delish...............
I do bubble and squeak when I make a pot roast! I never knew that's what it was called. Glad I googled it
Yes, English summers are to cold and wet to grow maize.
If you weren't in the pot you probably won't bubble and squeak, Trout.
lol
seriously, tho I put potatoes and carrots in with my pot roast. The next day I like to take the leftover veggies, fry them in butter and serve it with the leftover roast and gravy
Love that. Wife does the same.
So do I, along with a whole onion (hubby does not like to bite into onion). I usually just bowl up all the stuff together for leftovers. I then throw it in my cast iron Dutch oven, pour the gravy over top and heat it up. I never thought to fry up the stuff to go with the gravy. Might have to try that.
Lo-cal!
BBQ and sweet corn are good and messy, Only way to stay clean and properly enjoy is with a bib
or eat nekkid
that would work
It's starting to sound like ''The Children of the Corn'' around here.
Great novel.
I seem to remember Pence leading 100 mile charity rides several times when he was a Governor.
I see that WASP is still one of the remaining ethnic labels permissible to use as a slur.
Remember this, how to destroy a presidential campaign.