Should looks make an appearance in Politics?

**Back in Week Two a debate was hosted in the WMG building by the Warwick Debating Society. The debate was built around the proposition that “This house would rather a nuclear armed Iran than war.” Suffice to say, a debate about an issue as controversial as this received an unprecedented turnout. The excitement and energy in the room was palpable. At the end of this fireworks show of impassioned speeches and whip-snap retorts, the vote was cast and the proposition won with more than two hundred votes in their favour. **

Now you may be wondering why I have already given you the result without any preamble or detail as to the actual event, but it seems to me that the content of the debate was only one factor in deciding who won. The proposition were near enough guaranteed to win from the outset. If there’s one thing to be learned from the glaringly obvious airbrushing on David Cameron’s already rather synthetic looking face, it’s that, in politics, presentation really does matter.

The speakers for the proposition were Mr Peter Jenkins – a grizzled veteran with over thirty years on the front lines of diplomacy, and Dr Christian Emery – LSE academic, youthful, cocksure and the only doctor on the panel. On the opposition were Mr Davis Lewin – political director of an austere and stuffy sounding society, and Mr Jonathan Sacerdoti – director of public affairs at an ideology-bound federation and the most diminutive member of the panel.

Between the proposition and the opposition, I found two very different styles of presentation. I believe that this was just as important in determining the outcome of the debate as the content. The proposition gained experience and insight with Mr Jenkins – his older appearance and softly spoken manner automatically endeared him to even the hardest of hearts. Moreover, his thirty-or-so years ‘in the game’ presented him as the grizzled, old police detective in this drama. Dr Emery certainly lived up to the role of the wisecracking young deputy – his posture, even while sitting, simply oozed confidence and his amused chuckles and weary sighs spoke far louder than the speaker warranting these expressions.

{{quote It seems fairly self-evident that we are culturally trained to prejudge those who appear as a highly emotive lollipop }}

The opposition, on the other hand, presented a very odd couple. Mr Lewin was the only heavyset member of the panel and had to repeatedly wipe his brow during the debate (for the sake of fairness I must say that the room was stifling). In this extremely body-conscious age, it seems fairly self-evident that we are culturally trained to prejudge those who appear as a highly emotive lollipop. Mr Lewin’s sidekick – Mr Sacerdoti – was the smallest member of the panel and the youngest in appearance, and his voice carried none of the force or conviction of his peers.

While the proposition got right down to the facts and rational discourse, both Lewin and Sacerdoti lingered on bland, crowd-pleasing statements about “just how great it is to see all you young’uns taking such an interest, gee whizz.” While the proposition stayed, for the most part, resolute and dignified, both Lewin and Sacerdoti descended into emotional appeals and hysterics. Mr Lewin even shed a tear at one point. As Warwick students, we tend to take ourselves rather seriously when it comes to matters of political significance. We are an incredibly wise and terribly rational bunch of academics, after all. As such, appeals to emotion are not likely to work. However, in an ironic twist, there was one point in the debate where Mr Jenkins did crack and tell Mr Lewin to “piss off ”. It was probably the moment that brought the proposition to victory.

In an ideal world, we would judge politicians only by the content of their manifestos, but sadly this is not the case. We live in a world where Ed Miliband flirts at every given opportunity in order to shake of his “unappealing nerd” image. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney lathers on fake tan in order to appeal to Hispanic voters, and Paul Ryan steals a photo of himself washing already clean dishes to prove that he’s not ‘that’ evil. When it comes to politics, appearances really do matter, and the only way to change this is to understand that we are all guilty of it.