Shoes Of Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton, Rand Paul And Others Reveal The Truth
Ronald Reagan - Real man, Real president and he Really wore cowboy boots. |
No less of a cultural critic than Bette Midler once observed: “I firmly believe that with the right footwear one can rule the world.” Since the president represents the closest thing to the ruler of the world… let’s look at how the candidates are shod.
As GQ says:
As Men’s Health reports:
Skeptical? Science has our back: A 2012 study from the University of Kansas found that people are able to accurately judge 90 percent of a stranger’s personality, including their emotional stability, simply by looking at their most-worn pair of shoes.
Sabato’s crystal ball, as of May 12, scored the Republicans “Leading Contenders” as Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker. The next tier is “The Outsiders,” Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.
The declared Democrats are Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Lincoln Chafee, and Martin O’Malley.
According to the guerrilla research I performed — seeking revealing photos on the Web — Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker all appear to be wearing black lace-up dress shoes.
“The Outsiders”? Rand Paul and Ted Cruz wear cowboy boots.
Sen. Paul has drawn attention for his sartorial choices, being dubbed the “best dressed man in Washington” by Mother Jones, but also drawing some static from the spats crowd, as reported by Politico:
Some attendees commented that Paul’s appearance was “cavalier,” said Frayda Levin, a Paul supporter and major donor who attended the conference. … “This is an older crowd and much more establishment crowd. They are used to a Romney. They are used to a Jeb Bush,” Levin said.
Cowboy boots speak to a wilder, more populist, ethos. Reagan wore them.
As The Art of Manliness observes: “The Western-style riding boot is somewhere between folk art, pop culture, and functional clothing. Actors have worn them, and so have Presidents — and for that matter, so have actors who became Presidents.”
Cowboy boots bespeak a kind of frontier, can-do, go-it-alone ethos fully consistent both with Sen. Paul, who recently defied the Establishment to curb the snooping of the NSA and restore some integrity to the Fourth Amendment, and to Sen. Cruz, who led the charge to shut down the entire federal government.
Message: Who was that masked man? I don’t know, but he left this silver bullet.
By footwear the GOP’s top contenders appear divided between the Eastern Establishment and the Frontiersmen.
The contrast between the parties becomes quite vivid when we pivot to the Democratic contenders. In a 2008 campaign photo Hillary Clinton was wearing what StyleBistro called “brown kitten heels… conservative but attractive.”
Foot Wear News observes: “The upcoming campaign trail is indeed a pivotal time for politicians to dress their best. Clinton’s signature styles includes sensible heels — often kitten-heel styles in solid leathers.” And goes on to recommend: “Paul Andrew’s hand-woven brocade pumps offer a punchy touch of color in saturated pink. Houndstooth-print pumps from Lucy Choi London would also add a bit of kick to the conservative pantsuits she often favors. More classic footwear options might include slingback pumps from Oscar de la Renta and Jimmy Choo, in solid patent and metallic colorways.”
Hillary Clinton’s sensible yet stylish footwear shows her to belong to the Eastern Establishment.
Bernie Sanders appears to be wearing black loafers, a perfect man-of-the-people fashion statement. As Sanders said to CNBC: “You don't necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country.”
Martin O’Malley takes us back to black lace-up dress shoes. This, however, denotes less about him than it does about others. Gov. O’Malley may be, with the possible exception of Sen. Paul, the most fashion-forward of the candidates. O’Malley often is pictured Springsteen-esque, playing in his Irish band. He has been photographed bare-chested almost as often as Vladimir Putin.
In a statement furnished for this column Gov. Chafee stated: “I have put shoes on thousands of horses but when I wear them they are from Allen Edmonds.” Edmonds purveys classic men’s dress shoes. Gov. Chafee derives from Purebred Establishment stock.
Yet look deeper. NPR points out:
In The Wizard of Oz, that parable of 19th century populist politics, the silver (in the book) slippers worn by Dorothy stood as a metaphor for Cowardly Lion William Jennings Bryan’s call for the “free coinage of silver.” (The yellow brick road, the other element of the bimetallic monetary system of the day, stands in for gold.) Those shoes were the object of desire of the Wicked Witch of the West. As Glenda later pointed out all Dorothy needed to do was click her heels together three times and they would take her wherever she desired to go.
Shoes contain mysterious powers.
The leading Republican contenders appear split between wearing the footwear of the Eastern Business Establishment, the “Leading Contenders,” and the cowboy boots of their chief rivals, the “Outsiders.” The Democratic contenders are more diverse, with the dominant (if fragile) favorite being shod in stylish but conservative Eastern Establishment fashion and her rivals’ hinting at man-of-the-people status or at a mixture of the conservative and the slightly offbeat (akin to what has been called, bobo, short for “bourgeois bohemian”). There we have it.
Want to know what the candidates really stand for?
Look no further than what they stand in.
Ignore the talking heads. Follow the shoes.
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Ralph Benko is senior advisor, economics, to American Principles in Action’s Gold Standard 2012 Initiative, and a contributor to he ARRA News Service. Founder of The Prosperity Caucus, he was a member of the Jack Kemp supply-side team, served in an unrelated area as a deputy general counsel in the Reagan White House. The article which first appeared in Forbes was submitted for reprint by the author.
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