Obama Loses the David Brooks Vote

It is well known that one of the biggest reasons for columnist David Brooks’ otherwise inexplicable swoon over Obama was his natty dressing style. “I remember distinctly an image of—we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I’m thinking, a) he’s going to be president and b) he’ll be a very good president.”

However, Obama may have just lost the all-important Brooks vote due to this image:

Can David Brooks possibly love an Obama that can’t even button a jacket correctly? Sure, you and I may think “Eh, it happens.” But we’re not hyper-fashion-aware columnists for The New York Times.

Also, does anyone doubt that if Bush misbuttoned his jacket, it would have instantly been proclaimed a sign of mental deficiency across the lefty blogosphere?

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14 Responses to “Obama Loses the David Brooks Vote”

  1. […] Losing the David Brooks vote? “Can David Brooks possibly love an Obama that can’t even button a jacket correctly? Sure, […]

  2. Robert says:

    Please,

    I don’t like this guy. His arrogance is endless, his policies socialist, his entourage lame.

    But I’ve done fashion faux pas way worse than this myself. Stay with substance. Obama will give you plenty to work with. This isn’t worth more than a cheap chuckle and a ‘yet, I did that’.

  3. Joe Blow says:

    The odds of any given Obama supporter (1) noticing that the button is fastened incorrectly; (2) connected to a three button suit jacket, which isn’t really meant for casual wear – are probably close to zero.

  4. Andy Freeman says:

    A relevant term is “bikeshedding”.

    Brooks evaluated Obama on his dress because dress is something that Brooks can use evaluate people.

    Since dress isn’t all that relevant, this tells us that we shouldn’t listen to Brooks’ evaluations, except wrt spokesmodels.

  5. Ed Driscoll says:

    The Frat Pack is Back, Baby!…

    “Something weird happens when presidencies go wrong,” John Podhoretz wrote in September: Presidents become incompetent at doing the things they were always able to do in their sleep, and their aides follow suit. I noted this when I wrote my first book,…

  6. TallDave says:

    I think we have a duty to disseminate this photo as far and wide as possible.

    You know, balance of nature, etc.

  7. Kathy Kinsley says:

    Umm, yeah, Dave. Send on.

    But I, and lots others, agree with Robert. Yanno, no one is perfect. And nit-picking just makes people look like…well…nitpickers.

    It’s not like our President doesn’t have lots of great BIG errors to pick on… sigh.

  8. JAL says:

    And where is Michelle?

    Did she not catch this out of the corner of her eye? “Barry…. psssst! your jacket….”

    ? Mmmm? I’m not FLOTUS, but I can usually catch these things on my Not POTUS.

  9. kennycan says:

    He’s not nitpicking. It’s more of a dig on Brooks than Obama. If Brooks equated sartorial splendour = great president, then what does he have to say now that Obama is shown to be human just like the rest of us?

    Brooks evaluated Obama on a very minor qualification for being President and made it a major one (yes, I think our President should project the image of a well dressed man and not a slob, but I do allow for a faux pas every once in a while). This post is pointing out the poor judgement, or perhaps egocentric thought process (thinking as a fashion columnist, the world revolves around fashion), of David Brooks.

  10. Masturbatin' Pete says:

    Kathy, Robert: yes, it’s nitpicky. But file this under “Imagine if Bush Did It,” or “And They Called Bush Stupid.”

  11. William says:

    The target of this criticism was not Obama. It was Brooks. That supporters don’t get it, says a ton about their perception.

  12. […] Losing the David Brooks vote? “Can David Brooks possibly love an Obama that can’t even button a jacket correctly? Sure, you […]

  13. […] Losing the David Brooks vote? “Can David Brooks possibly love an Obama that can’t even button a jacket correctly? Sure, you […]

  14. […] conservative these days, but he’s dead right on this issue. But given David Brooks’ swooning over Obama and his heresy on tax hikes, perhaps we should stop mistaking him for a conservative at […]

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