One week ago, eleven Republican presidential hopefuls crowded the stage at the Ronald Reagan National Library in Simi Valley, California for the ultimate CNN-engineered political showdown. Tensions arose, tempers flared, and facts went flying, making for a perfectly entertaining evening. In a particularly memorable moment, Donald Trump fired a shot at Rand Paul’s physical appearance, claiming, “I never attacked him on his look, and believe me, there’s plenty of subject matter right there.”
Trump is right— there is plenty of subject matter in the front-running candidates’ appearances, particularly in their notable and highly individual hairdos. Thus, this debate analysis will focus on the important intersection of state and style.
Donald Trump
Photo: cnn.com
It is only fair to kickstart this larger analysis with a discussion of one of America’s most infamous heads of hair. Donald Trump’s strands are, first and foremost, a truly indefinite shade of yellow. Discerning Trump’s hair color is much like nailing down his politics: you always come away with a different answer than before. Images of a younger Trump indicate that he was, indeed, blond as a child, but today the adjective “blond” seems an inadequate word choice compared to other celebrities’ descriptors of “corn,” “beige,” and, best of all, “unsavory salmon.”
Beyond his questionable choice in hair dye, Trump sports an extraordinarily unique blowdried comb-over look. Several sources, including a woman whom Trump allowed to touch the comb-over, confirm that despite how ridiculous it looks, his hair is his own. But that does not explain why he chooses to style his “unsavory salmon” locks as he does. Is it to hide the fact that he is balding? Is it to establish a personal trademark? Is it because he does not want to give up the hairstyle he wore in his younger years? Again, the discussion around Trump’s hair mirrors his presidential campaign thus far: just because it is real and here to stay does not mean we still don’t have a lot of unanswered questions.
Carly Fiorina
Photo: politifact.com
Carly Fiorina’s current hairstyle seems cool, calm, and collected, but much like her road to candidacy, has a history of ups and downs. Back in 2009, Fiorina survived a bout of cancer, losing her hair in chemotherapy. Since then, she has sported ten different colors and cuts (by my unofficial count) to reach the style she has today. Her political past has fluctuated too: by now, her term as Hewlett-Packard’s CEO from 1999-2005, which she promotes as one of her strongest assets, is widely regarded as, to put it gently, a pretty rough time for the company.
However, on Wednesday, she did not have a single hair out of place, literally and figuratively. Her ‘do was carefully straightened and tastefully parted to the side, a composed look that paralleled her performance that evening. She managed to cooly deflect Trump’s attack of her appearance while arguing passionately about issues like Planned Parenthood, legalized marijuana, and diplomatic relations with Russia. Her successful execution earned her 22,000 new Twitter followers and now second place in the Republican primary polls. As the campaign gets more intense, it will be interesting to see if she, and her hair, will remain under control.
Marco Rubio
Photo: thumbs.mic.com
“Marco Rubio is balding. Will it cost him the presidency?!?” is, indeed, a real Washington Post headline. This may sound like clickbait, and it is: the study cited in the Post found that the lack of balding men in higher American political office is probably not due to voter bias. This is good news for Mr. Rubio, however, we should not overlook how his head of hair on Wednesday night reflects his overall political trajectory.
Rubio’s balding leaves his hair thick around the edges and sparser in the middle: likewise, he is strong in foreign policy and generally quite articulate, but also has a repertoire of cringe-worthy moments, like when he hit a kid in the face with a football. In fact, during his opening statement in the debate, Rubio pulled out a water bottle in reference to the awkward drink he took on live national television two and a half years ago, a joke that fell pretty flat with both the live audience and the viewers back home. While still a strong candidate at fourth place in the Republican polls, Rubio has some patches he still needs to work out.
Clearly, there exists a strong correlation between candidate’s hairstyle and their politics; just as all individuals sport their own style, each of these candidates offers a different approach to political leadership. The holistic analysis of these presidential hopefuls remains important as the polls continue to fluctuate every day. The GOP front-runner may come away winning by just a hair.
