Posted on 06/14/2008 12:53:43 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Obama's quandary: Wear a helmet, look dumb or be a role model?
No image affected Michael Dukakis' 1988 campaign more than his infamous ride in the tank. This image is still funny.
Sure, there's world wars and toxic pollution and corruption and Social Security reform and a few other things like trillions of dollars in debt to worry about.
But before getting to those easy issues, politicians who want to be chief executives must first get elected. And to do that they must decide if they're going to wear funny hats.
It's the bane of most big-time campaigns. And why you don't see candidates so often visiting construction sites; hard-hat zones, where they must don those funny-looking helmets that sit so high on their head. They may save lives, but they scare image-conscious campaigns.
Remember in 1988 Gov. Mike Dukakis driving that tank? It's a lot of fun. Looked good on paper to associate him with defense issues, a traditional Democratic weak spot. But you gotta wear the XL helmet. So he did. He looked like a pretender. And the rest is doofus history.
Long before him, there was the classic headgear disaster, Calvin Coolidge in the Indian headdress. Scroll down for that baby.
So, even though he's a freshman senator and a rookie national campaigner, Sen. Barack Obama faced a quandary last weekend.
Should he wear one of those stupid-looking bicycle helmets that legislators say we must wear but only look good on Tour de France racers? And get mocked? Or should he go without the hapless headgear and get criticized for defying the law? Who does he think he is? Above the rules that apply to everyone else?
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
Kerry is such a geek. I’ll take President Bush any day.
Obama sure likes rubbing up against the women. Another Bill Clinton in the works?
Help me out here please. Why wouldn’t I wear Blue jeans while riding a bike?
Should he wear one of those stupid-looking bicycle helmets that legislators say we must wear but only look good on Tour de France racers?
I guess it’s all in the prespective of the viewer.
I wonder if he wears some kind of bowling helmet when he bowls? He surely couldn’t look any worse than that 30 something he bowled.
He looks like he’s fourteen!
Thought bubble.....”This baby got some back!”
Because the jeans can get caught in the chain and cause a bad accident. Better to wear shorts or if wearing pants to tie the pant leg tightly against your leg so nothing can get caught.
And a flat tire, like he just took that nice Trek hybrid out of the store without even airing it up or adjusting the seat and handlebars.
What do those cyclist chicks see in him?
Thanks for asking, I was wondering the same thing. Many people I know wear jeans when casually biking. It’s kind of silly to spend mucho bucks suiting up for the Tour De France look when you’re not a competitive biker, IMO. And I’m no Obama fan but really, I wore a helmet (and hated the thing) when my kids were little and we biked, just as he was biking with his kids in that situation. I wanted to set the example for them. I just don’t see the big deal about this pic - and I’m really glad there haven’t been cameras around in my less-than-graceful moments of my life!
:)
He’s gonna be a busy boy :)
Oh man, my family is so screwed I guess. We’ve always worn jeans when out on family biking outings. I’ve been wearing jeans while biking for over 30 years. In the summer, I’ll wear shorts but not biking ones. And we wouldn’t even know where to buy ‘real cycling shoes’. I wear sneakers but more often, sandals. Flipflops, even.
Don’t think I’ll invest in cycling gear just to ride with my husband in the evenings, on our back roads around here. I’d actually probably look pretty silly in ‘cycling gear’ on the bike I got for my 12th birthday and still use.
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