Republicans are more willing to accept fat candidates than Democrats are
Are they? I haven't seen any research on this! And I have no hard data to draw on, but my guess is there are simply more fat candidates and the electorate is more fat on the Republican side, on average, therefore more accepting of fat candidates. Sort of a positive feedback loop.
While Rs might speak more harshly against it, because they speak more harshly against everything with known societal prejudices, on the whole - given their lower education, lower awareness of how to maintain good diet and physical health and so on - fat is probably just a thing they don't mind so much seeing reflected in their candidates.
What surprises me is that Democrats would have any known prejudice against fatness - I'm a lifelong D (voting their way for nigh on 25 years now) and can't recall it being a thing. I voted for Clinton who spent most of his two terms see-sawing about an ounce away from complete corpulence. Hillary, though not fat, was more "healthy" than thin; ditto Michelle.
Having a prejudice against fat could literally ruin any political party: I wonder where GB and the whole world would be right now if such a thing had kept Winston Churchill (a liberal) from winning elections, just as a for instance (though it maddens me I have to jump the pond to think of any country tolerant of it - North Korea and its current dictator, who I doubt got elected into office fairly, or at all, does not count).
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zvi and
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Date: 2017-08-09 08:22 am (UTC)Are they? I haven't seen any research on this! And I have no hard data to draw on, but my guess is there are simply more fat candidates and the electorate is more fat on the Republican side, on average, therefore more accepting of fat candidates. Sort of a positive feedback loop.
While Rs might speak more harshly against it, because they speak more harshly against everything with known societal prejudices, on the whole - given their lower education, lower awareness of how to maintain good diet and physical health and so on - fat is probably just a thing they don't mind so much seeing reflected in their candidates.
What surprises me is that Democrats would have any known prejudice against fatness - I'm a lifelong D (voting their way for nigh on 25 years now) and can't recall it being a thing. I voted for Clinton who spent most of his two terms see-sawing about an ounce away from complete corpulence. Hillary, though not fat, was more "healthy" than thin; ditto Michelle.
Having a prejudice against fat could literally ruin any political party: I wonder where GB and the whole world would be right now if such a thing had kept Winston Churchill (a liberal) from winning elections, just as a for instance (though it maddens me I have to jump the pond to think of any country tolerant of it - North Korea and its current dictator, who I doubt got elected into office fairly, or at all, does not count).