Five decades ago, New York City had a charismatic mayor named John V. Lindsay. He had movie-star appeal, but made more than his share of mistakes, including not plowing the snow in the entire borough of Queens and not solving a crippling sanitation strike quickly enough. After switching from the Republican to the Liberal Party, he was challenged briefly in 1973 by then Congressman Edward I. Koch.
Koch had none of Lindsay’s sex appeal, and eventually gave up his first bid for the mayoralty. But Lindsay’s successor, Abraham Beame, was a captive of back-room politics, and Koch was back in the mayoral campaign in 1977. “After eight years of charisma and four years of the clubhouse,” he would say of Lindsay and Beame, “why not try competence?” Koch was elected in 1977, and went on to become one of the city’s greatest mayors.
Looking back, even though Koch had a great sense of humor and was sometimes outspoken in his comments, he was considered a little bland. In today’s political world we tend to gravitate toward candidates that look like Robert Redford in his prime and others who are equally telegenic. Voters sometimes prefer good-looking candidates even if, deep down, they bring no substance to the campaign. Today’s media give politicians great exposure, and looks don’t hurt.
The 2020 national election may be a contest between an outspoken real estate baron (if Donald Trump is still a candidate) who is saddled with multiple investigations and a few scandals, and a Democratic candidate who may look much different from a movie version of past presidents. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush weren’t sex symbols, but they captured the attention of the voters and got elected to the nation’s highest office. Carter was book-smart, and Bush had name recognition. In both cases the public wanted something different, and wasn’t looking for Hollywood qualities.
Even though we’re just starting 2019, speculation has already begun over whom the Democratic Party will nominate next year. A few of the potential candidates, who are on the brink of running, seem to be carbon copies when it comes to the issues of the day. Who isn’t for health care for all? Don’t we all want safer highways and bridges? Shouldn’t voting be made easier for all Americans? Who doesn’t want secure borders? In what ways do Senators Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren differ?