Too Fat To Be President? Governor Chris Christie Decides Not To Run (Chapter 6 Extra Post)

Newman (2010) says that “physical attractiveness is still a more salient interpersonal and economic issue for women than for men” (p. 121).  Describing the level of media focus on Hillary Clinton’s appearance during her unsuccessful campaign for the presidency in 2008, Newman also notes that “it’s hard to imagine physical attractiveness being the hub of this kind of attention for male salespeople, classical musicians, or political leaders” (p. 121).

But is there more to the story?  Last week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced that he had reached a final decision not become a Republican Party candidate for President of the United States in 2012, saying that “it is not my time.”  You have to wonder, however, how much the media attention to Christie’s weight weighed into his decision not to run in 2012.

Gov. Christie is a very large man who is, in fact, obese.

Chris Christie is obviously a successful politician who was able to achieve the high office of Governor of New Jersey, despite his large size.  But when his name was mentioned as a possible Republican Party candidate for the presidency, the media focus quickly turned to Christie’s weight.  Both serious political commentators and comedians had a field day. 

The serious political commentators suggested that Christie’s weight was a legitimate concern for someone seeking such a high office.  One of the harshest commentaries was by Eugene Robinson, a Washington Post opinion writer. 

You can read Robinson’s comments here:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/chris-christies-big-problem/2011/09/29/gIQAAL7J8K_story.html

Citing health concerns raised by obesity, Robinson wrote, “Like everyone else, elected officials perform best when they are in optimal health. Christie obviously is not.”  Robinson said that when Christie decided to become a possible candidate, he made the private issue of his weight a public issue that is fair game to discuss.  Newman says that disapproval of people’s weight is sometimes motivated by health concerns.   Robinson moved beyond health concerns raised by Christie’s obesity, however, in his suggestion that Christie’s inability to take the weight off is a matter of lack of self-control.  Robinson even tells the Governor to “eat a salad and take a walk” or to have gastric by-pass surgery!

Other political analysts expressed a wide range of other concerns raised by Christie’s weight, such as the unfavorable contrast raised by the prospect of a morbidly obese president with the efforts of current First Lady Michelle Obama to use her office to try to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States.  Kinder comments focused on worry about the effect of the stress of the job of President might have on an obese officeholder, and whether it would affect his ability to perform the duties of the office for the duration of his term.  One of the more extreme opinions was expressed on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program by the Rev. Al Sharpton.  Sharpton suggested that Christie should lose weight by being put in jail for 90 days as Sharpton had been as a result of his participation in a civil disobedience demonstration.

You can watch Rev. Sharpton’s suggestions for Gov. Christie here:  http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/09/30/al-sharpton-put-governor-christie-jail-90-days-lose-weight

The bottom line is that these sorts of comments all either directly or indirectly question the electability of an obese presidential candidate, given the cultural backdrop of prejudice against them as described by Newman in “Sizing People Up” (p. 162).   It is interesting to note that an old picture of a very fit President Obama greeting the very unfit Gov. Christie was frequently used to illustrate the political opinion pieces targeting Gov. Christie’s weight.  The message of this photo is clearly to preview the comparative attractiveness of the two candidates in the election if Christie were to get the Republican nomination.

The comedians and political cartoonists also took quick advantage of the prospect of a larger than life presidential candidate.  David Letterman led the way, saying that he didn’t condone making fun of fat people generally, just those who wanted to become president.  He said that if we can’t make jokes about fat people running for president, “then the terrorists have won.”

You can watch Letterman’s jokes about Christie’s weight here:  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/david-letterman-attacks-gov-chris-christie-about-his-weight-14624858

It is interesting to note Christie’s own response to all of the attention paid to his weight.  In a press conference, he said that he did not mind the comedians’ jokes, as long as they are funny, and he joked that he himself found most of Letterman’s jokes to be very funny.  

You can watch Gov. Christie’s press conference about his weight issues here:    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/chris-christie-thinks-david-letterman-weight-jokes-are-funny-14664822

While Christie took the comedians’ jokes with good humor, he took strong issue with the comments of some of the serious political commentators’ comments, describing them as “some of the most ignorant people I have heard in my life.”  He particularly attacked the suggestion that being overweight is the equivalent of being undisciplined, and pointed out that undisciplined people could never achieve such a high office as Governor of New Jersey, for example.  He also described some of those comments as attempts to stigmatize people in ways that are irrelevant to their ability to do a job.

While many of the issues raised by an obese person’s candidacy for President seem like legitimate questions, the media blitz leading up to Christie’s no-candidacy decision announcement certainly calls into question Newman’s assertion that concern with a candidate’s physical attractiveness is primarily focused on female candidates.  Christie’s experience shows that obese candidates’ can expect to endure scrutiny of their appearance that is the same, if not more brutal, than that which the female candidates have traditionally endured.