If Romney wins, he'd likely be renominated in 2016, when he will be 69, which isn't that young anymore. The Republicans had a lot of success with older candidates in the 1980s, but less since then: the elder Bush in 1992, Dole in 1996, McCain in 2008. Both Dole and McCain suffered terrible physical agony in their country's service (Dole almost died of his wounds several years after World War II), which doesn't help keep a man youthful-seeming. In contrast, Romney (like Obama) has enjoyed a physically comfortable life with no outside stresses.
Here are a couple of general questions: How much correlation is there between the age somebody looks and their mental age? Romney looks much younger than 65, but how much can you judge a book by its cover?
How much does the Mormon lifestyle of no smoking, no drinking, and no caffeine matter?
By the way, the presumed frontrunner for the Democrats in 2016 is Hillary, who is about the same age as Romney. (Biden is even older.) The Democrats, however, have been more fad-driven and less likely to reward party warhorses who wait their turn.
Here are a couple of general questions: How much correlation is there between the age somebody looks and their mental age? Romney looks much younger than 65, but how much can you judge a book by its cover?
How much does the Mormon lifestyle of no smoking, no drinking, and no caffeine matter?
By the way, the presumed frontrunner for the Democrats in 2016 is Hillary, who is about the same age as Romney. (Biden is even older.) The Democrats, however, have been more fad-driven and less likely to reward party warhorses who wait their turn.
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69 comments:
I've met Romney in person - on a commercial flight to Utah no less - and he definitely seems much younger than his years. I think it's real. The Mormon lifestyle probably does help - but not just the diet. Mormon's emphasize setting aside time for family life and I think that really reduces stress levels.
Definitely looks younger than his years. But I heard he dyes his hair.
May I suggest a constitutional amendment barring candidates from dying their hair or engaging in cosmetic surgery that would suggest more robustness and health than they really have?
A lot of the Hot Mormon effect is probably due to lower sugar / carb consumption. Metabolic syndrome ages the body.
By cutting out caffeine, they inadvertently cut out a large source of sugar for Americans -- soda, energy drinks, and coffee and tea, which most people sweeten.
They're supposed to eat more meat than other groups, but I don't know how that's measured. It's probably safe to say they're more meat-oriented than the pastafarian SWPLs.
Setting aside the consciously paleo diet people, Mormons must be closest to that kind of diet than other groups are, putting them at lower risk for diseases of civilization.
Setting aside the consciously paleo diet people, Mormons must be closest to that kind of diet than other groups are, putting them at lower risk for diseases of civilization.
LOL. You always pull stuff out of your ass.
Mormons eat a conventional diet with bread, potatoes, oatmeal, etc. like everyone else.
Quick googling reveals that Romney regularly eats rice and a "high fiber" diet. And he avoids fatty high cholesterol foods and even pulls the cheese off of pizza. He also jogs everyday. In other words, he does the opposite of "paleo" by eating rice and carbs, avoiding fat, and doing cardio everyday:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/1111/Romney_jogs_every_morning_eats_cheeseless_pizza.html
“Romney paced himself. A dutiful jogger, Romney runs three miles every morning, on jogging trails, on a treadmill in the gym, even around and around the hotel (often a Marriott), if there‘s no place else to go. If he has a slice of pizza, he pulls the cheese off the top. Usually, Romney dines on turkey breast, rice, and broccoli, chased by water or maybe a Diet Coke. In South Carolina, for a big treat, he might visit a Bojangles‘ for the fried chicken. Romney relished KFC, but pulled off the skin.”
http://politicker.com/2012/09/medical-records/
"“He totally abstains from drinking any alcoholic beverages and does not use any tobacco products or illict drugs. He eats a high fiber diet with abundant fruits and vegetables and minimizes intake of high cholesterol foods and concentrated sweets,” wrote Dr. Gaz of Mr. Romney."
I don't think age per se was the main problem for McCain or Dole. Senate lifers just don't translate too well to the presidential campaign trail.
Pundits said back in '96, that if the president were decided by a vote of the Senate, Dole would win easily. Dole sounded fairly sharp on Sunday morning political shows, and could be witty in late night show appearances. But on the stump, he was just awful, tripping over his words, sounding stiff, etc.
At 69, Romney would be 4 years younger than Judge Richard Posner is now. Posner seems pretty sharp still, no?
I'd vote ABC - anyone but Clinton.
Lot of time between now and 2016, but I don't think Hilary will win the nomination for that election.
My thinking now is both parties will be in "youth" mode for candidates for a while.
We'll just have to see.
I'm surprised that an HBD site doesn't have an explanation for Mitt's youthful looks-good genes for youthful looks.
chased by water or maybe a Diet Coke
Uhh, hello caffeine.
That's something I've noticed about the relentless, grueling grind of the modern world - you can certainly go without the booze or the smokes, but just trying rolling out of bed at 04:00 AM without any caffeine.
Lotsa luck.
I would imagine that caffeine consumption has increased over the course of my lifetime.
Caffeine free diet coke is a thing that exists... for some reason.
Forget the diet. What worries me is whether he will go full Mormon on us. They have no affinity toward groups that have hounded them for decades. That means Christians.
McCain should have been the Republican candidate in 2000 instead of Bush. Both were bad on immigration but McCain was less of a spender and might have handled the war diffidently.
A 69 year old Hillary running for President? HA.
" George said...
Forget the diet. What worries me is whether he will go full Mormon on us. They have no affinity toward groups that have hounded them for decades."
How did the song go? "Meet the new boss,..."
Slightly OT but yesterday the Wall Street Journal had an article in their online edition on how highter White voter turnout is the key to a Republican victory.
You can read it here:
Turnout, Racial Composition Will Decide the Election
www.realclearpolitics.com/.../turnout_racial_composition_will_decid
Interestingly, when I first read the article yesterday, if my recollection is correct, the headline specifically read something like "White turnout is key to Republican victory" or something like that.
It looks like they PCed up the title of the article a bit by dropping the word "White" in the title but the content appears the same.
It looks like someone is reading your blog Steve ...maybe you should ask for some residuals or a piece of whatever it is that reporters get for publishing articles in the MSM.
"Anonymous said...
McCain should have been the Republican candidate in 2000 instead of Bush. Both were bad on immigration but McCain was less of a spender and might have handled the war diffidently.
11/6/12 5:07 AM"
But McCain is insane. Bush is just a crook.
Anonymous 5:07 AM:
On the war, McCain is everything Bush was but moreso. In 2000 he would have been a disaster.
"Anonymous said...
McCain should have been the Republican candidate in 2000 instead of Bush. Both were bad on immigration but McCain was less of a spender and might have handled the war diffidently."
Wow... he was less of a spender and would have handled the war differently.
Sir, you are a master of understatment, whether unintentional or not.
Yeah... he would have saved money by dropping one of the many extra seldom used nukes the U.S. has lying around on countries he didn't like and turning them into parking lots instead of getting into a protracted drawn out war (I mean why waste a perfectly good bomb).
Gotta love those ex-Navy bombers...always thinking about ways to save money.
Remember the bomb,bomb, bomb Iran song he sang?
McCain Sings 'Bomb Iran' - CBS News Video
www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2711322n
Not sure what the rest of the world would have thought of his actions, but I expct a lot of them would not have been pleased.
"McCain should have been the Republican candidate in 2000 instead of Bush."
First time that phrase has ever been used outside of Times editorial offices.
Nothing ages a man more than a bald head.
Romney has a full head of hair which is dark beyond his years. I don't know if it's a dye-job or not, but the alpha male chimp greying temples add a certain gravitas, in a Marvel Comic sort of way (Nick Fury, J Jonah Fameson etc).
Reagan also had a full head of (obviously dyed - but he lied about it), right into his late '70s. Actually it looked pretty horrible , the incongruity between that deeply lined, wrinkled be-wattled (like a turkey-cock) face and the short, dark 1930s brillantined helmet was kind of jarring and disturbing, an unnatural combination, rather like seeing a bald-headed young woman.
"A lot of the Hot Mormon effect is probably due to lower sugar / carb consumption...They're supposed to eat more meat than other groups..."
There's a YouTube video of Mitt arguing with an Iowa radio announcer. I forget if it's recently or from the 2008 campaign, but either way it shows Romney engaging pretty assertively and intelligently with the guy, despite being at least 60.
Agnostic is wrong here. The same "Word of Wisdom" which prohibits coffee, tobacco and alcohol consumption also advises eating meat rarely, though many Mormons don't necessarily adhere to that. So a "low carb diet" isn't what does it. Mormons, lacking other vices, are famously prolific eaters of sweets, Utah having one of the highest per capita consumption rates of ice cream and jello.
There's been a lot of research lately that marriage and a good family life reduces stress and increases longevity, and Mitt's been married since just after his 22nd birthday. Combine that with no alcohol, tobacco, drugs - ever; no military service, no late nights out on the town, not much hard labor (but then that's true for most other politicians these days, especially Obama), and probably just plain damn good genetic luck, and you get a guy who seems both physically and mentally at least 15 years younger than his chronological age.
"Forget the diet. What worries me is whether he will go full Mormon on us. They have no affinity toward groups that have hounded them for decades. That means Christians."
What I wonder is if all these trolls who found your site in the last month or so will disappear after midnight tonight.
Explain then, Sport, why when a church in Utah is vandalized it is almost invariably a Mormon church? There are plenty of non-Mormon churches here to vandalzie, but it almost never happens. Religiously incited hate crimes by Mormons never happen, ever.
Anyway, here's a list of a few things I can think of which age you, physically and/or mentally:
1) Hard labor
2) Combat service
3) Bad diet
4) Eating too much/obesity
5) Bad genes
6) Too many late nights/early mornings.
7) Being single
8) Lack of physical activity
9) Excessive alcohol consumption (some would say any alcohol consumption.
10) Tobacco and drug use
11) Stressful family life (esp. infidelity)
12) Being an employee rather than the employer
13) Possibly caffeine
14) Lack of exposure to new experiences.
Mitt's on the right side of all of those lifestyle choices - ALL of them.
OTOH, I recently saw a video of Clinton camapigning for Obama, and the dude looked...tired and old, though he's only 7 months older than Romney.
"How much does the Mormon lifestyle of no smoking, no drinking, and no caffeine matter?..."
It's not just that. It's also no divorces, no adultery, no STDs, no pot. A supportive community. I'd guess all of that contributes.
'Caffeine free diet coke is a thing that exists... for some reason.'
...and it's on tap in every c-store in utah.
David Brooks is mentioned here as "one of the few journalists to strike up a real relationship with Obama during his first term." I didn't know that.
I don't think Steve is delusional about Brooks reading him. I've seen stuff in Brooks's writing that echoed Steve's stuff much too specifically for pure coincidences.
"How much does the Mormon lifestyle of no smoking, no drinking, and no caffeine matter?"
Mormon lifestyle? That lifestyle sounds quite like the one Ronald Reagan lived. But at least Reagan had a sense of humor.
There's research showing that certain stress hormones like cortisol and testosterone drop when men become fathers. Lower cortisol and testosterone levels slow aging and increase longevity. He had kids pretty early, and he had lots of them along with lots of grandkids.
"the presumed frontrunner for the Democrats in 2016 is Hillary"
Nah they will trot out that Teaxs mestizo wunderkind, Julián Castro.
OTOH, I recently saw a video of Clinton camapigning for Obama, and the dude looked...tired and old, though he's only 7 months older than Romney.
Clinton looks much older than Romney.
Agnostic is wrong here. The same "Word of Wisdom" which prohibits coffee, tobacco and alcohol consumption also advises eating meat rarely, though many Mormons don't necessarily adhere to that. So a "low carb diet" isn't what does it. Mormons, lacking other vices, are famously prolific eaters of sweets, Utah having one of the highest per capita consumption rates of ice cream and jello.
Yes, Mormon cuisine is like standard Midwestern fare. Casseroles, Jell-O, that sort of thing. It is not "paleo" by any means.
Clean living has rewards.
Remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?
"What's your secret Kid?"
"Prayer"
BOLD PREDICTION: Election
GOD WILLING my BOLD Prediction will come true
Romney wins FLA, VA, NC and PA
Obama loses Ohio in a nail biter
Romney goes on to win either Iowa or Wisconsin and picks up Colorado
Miracles happen
PRAY!!!
http://elvisnixon.com/2012/11/06/bold-prediction-election.aspx
Also, men with many children live longer.
My great grandfather, father of nine, lived to 97 and was sharp for a long time. Only the last year or so was he really out of it.
Being president ages a person more than most things, except maybe crystal meth. If Romney wants to keep his youthful good looks, he'd be better off losing.
I've noticed D'Won looks pretty gray and tired these days.
Mormons can't have coffee or tea, because their writings specifically prohibit such, but naturally, since pop isn't mentioned, many feel permitted to drink it. I had a Mormon friend some years back who loved Barq's Root Beer; Mitt Romney's drinking Diet Coke is consistent with that...
I don't think Romney ca be described as a "party warhorse". He's had a successful career outside of politics. When is the last time that has been able to to be said about any Democrat?
Reagan also had a full head of (obviously dyed - but he lied about it)
By tomorrow, all these lefties will be gone from here!
Didn't Young have a disabled son with a 70s actress Carrie Snodgress? Don't laugh at the name she was quite good and popular.
Oops sorry wrong comment thread.
Of greater importance to me is that if R/R win, and do well over the next four years, there's a good chance that Paul Ryan will become president. And that will be a Very Good Thing.
Clinton's heart problems have clearly weakened and aged him severely. Few people are ever quite the same after a major heart or stroke incident. Didn't Steve speculate that George W. Bush had suffered a stroke in the late 90s or early 00s? He certainly seemed markedly sharper and more verbally facile in his early years as Texas governor.
Not drinking is a massive factor. Lifelong or long-term teetotallers (who quit drinking relatively young) frequently look ten years younger than they are. Professional dancers are another group that ages exceptionally well, incidentally. Who was the last US president known to be a dancer? (OT, sorry).
At least anecdotally, I've seen a lot of older people who look great but have checked out mentally. I'm not sure which fate is more horrifying: being trapped inside a falling apart body with a sharp mind, or having your body go on far longer than your brain.
"but just trying rolling" = but just try rolling
Mormons do eat more meat than other groups. The refs are somewhere in the footnotes to Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.
He compared the health of groups with unusual diets, and pointed out that we can't attribute the health of Seventh Day Adventists to their vegetarianism, since Mormons eat a good deal of meat and look similar.
"Mormons eat a conventional diet with bread, potatoes, oatmeal, etc. like everyone else."
I didn't say anything about those things. I said they don't gulp down soda, energy drinks, and sweetened coffee and tea every day like everyone else. And that's true.
One 12-oz can of Coke has 39 g of carbs, all sugar. Teenage American guys drink an average of 2 per day, and the median American drinks 2.6 glasses a day. You're talking 80-100 g of sugar a day just from soda alone.
Obviously cutting out soda is a simple way to stay relatively fitter than the average American guy.
"Definitely looks younger than his years. But I heard he dyes his hair."
No way. You can always spot that dyed haired look in older men. It's usually got a red tint to it.
"A lot of the Hot Mormon effect is probably due to lower sugar / carb consumption. Metabolic syndrome ages the body."
This is obviously coming from someone with no real experience with Mormons and Mormon culture. Sugar is the one thing they are allowed to indulge in, and boy do they! (Utahns love Jell-O in particular.) And most Mormons are uncomfortable with low-carb/paleo type diets because the same "revelation" that prohibits alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea, also tells them to eat meat sparingly.
No one's going to give a shout out to religious faith?
I was watching the Monday Night Football game between the Saints and Eagles last night and both candidates were on at halftime, sequentially, to be interviewed by host Chris Berman.
The contrast between how energetic the 65-year-old Romney looked and how tired the 51-year-old Barack Obama looked was striking. You could also hear the difference in their energy levels when they were speaking. Obama spoke in a low semi-mumble, while Romney sounded like a new football coach talking excitedly about the coming season. Obama was obviously crawling across the finish line and Romney looked like he could campaign another year.
I don't think anything I saw last night was indicative of what will happen in the election. Romney might lose despite his remarkably high energy levels. But if he does win, one thing I won't be concerned about is his age in 2016. He's obviously genetically blessed with a lot of energy and lives the kind of lifestyle that allows him to take full advantage of his natural talents.
this was absolutely discussed about ron paul.
probably the reason it hasn't been discussed about mitt romney is because he's extremely healthy for a 65 year old man, and most people don't even realize he's that old.
"you can certainly go without the booze or the smokes, but just trying rolling out of bed at 04:00 AM without any caffeine."
I do it every day, though I'm not Mormon. I damaged my adrenals pretty badly when I was younger on a diet of Mountain Dew and cold pills, so caffeine depresses more than stimulates me. Kicking it is hard initially, usually involving headaches, but once you've been caffeine-free for a while, you adjust.
I'm Catholic, so I have no particular love or trust for Mormons, and think they're a little weird. However, Obama has made it clear that he's our enemy and intends to shut devout Catholics out of the political discourse, at minimum. I don't get the feeling Mitt cares about us one way or the other.
"Nothing ages a man more than a bald head."
Incorrect. Nothing ages a man like 30 extra pounds and a pair of man boobs.
Obama's religion, to the extent that he has one, is New Age Oprahism, which is far freakier and more dangerous than anything Mormons are likely to come up with.
"OTOH, I recently saw a video of Clinton camapigning for Obama, and the dude looked...tired and old, though he's only 7 months older than Romney."
probably his 2 heart surgeries. one in 2004 and another in 2010. they were serious. he won't live as long as ron paul or mitt romney, all else being equal. of course paul or romney could get hit by a car tomorrow, or have a stroke out the blue, or whatever.
Do you suppose an obese candidate, e.g. Chris Christie, is electable?
I heard he goes wild with coffee flavored ice cream occasionly
Matthew, your point is a good one if somewhat overstated. Good arguments could be made for the benefits of alcohol consumption for example. Also, you're right of course about Mormon chillaxedness these days but never say never lest someone trudge out the ghosts of the MMM. Granted there was more at play there than religious differences but it was a fine killing and Church members - to their credit - don't feel as though they've quite expiated the sin yet.
Also, why are all Mormon males named Matthew? :-)
"Mormons can't have coffee or tea, because their writings specifically prohibit such, but naturally, since pop isn't mentioned, many feel permitted to drink it."
The debate over whether Mormons are permitted to drink soda is an ongoing one, decades old. Mormon leaders, SFAIK, have never fully cleared it up. So many/most Mormons drink soda, but all the soda sold on the BYU campus is caffeine-free.
Don't forget Clinton loves his cigars!
Remnant said..."May I suggest a constitutional amendment barring candidates from dying their hair or engaging in cosmetic surgery that would suggest more robustness and health than they really have?"
Yes you may. However in order to get my vote you will also have to add a ban on people that have changed their names. How many people know somebody who has changed their name (I'm not talking about married women)? How many would vote for one for President? How about somebody that would INTENTIONALLY choose Barack Hussein Obama as their name?
In other news, my prediction is that this election will be very close and there will likely be not only recounts in some states (Ohio perhaps) but allegations of all sorts of shenanigans - fraud if you're a GOP'er, voter suppression if you're a Dem. I believe that if the election is extremely close but likely to go to Romney, the left will then engage in all sorts of lawsuits and delaying tactics designed to bring SCOTUS into it. At that point they will be able to ceaselessly question the legitimacy of the election as they did in 2000 (I readily concede, will even volunteer, that although W was a first class tool and classic boomer f***up, he won the election legitimately). This will have the added benefit for the left of encouraging blacks to go berserk as "their" Prez gets cheated out of four more years. Or eight. Or President-for-Life or whatever. The left will literally have blood on their hands after the riots.
Then again I could be wrong...
http://news.uk.msn.com/us-elections-2012/entire-planet-supports-obama-except-china/
Romney should run for Chinese president.
People who are the same chronological age can physically age at very different rates. Google current images of Brigitte Bardot and Sophia Loren, born within two weeks of each other, to see what I mean.
By the way, Bush Sr. and Dole may have been older candidates, but today they're both in their late 80's and still going reasonably strong.
"when he will be 69, which isn't that young anymore. "
Was there a time when 69 was considered young? When was that time?
Winston Churchill looked like crap and did all the bad things, but he was one of the great leaders of the 20th century.
To some other commenters: Nah, the lefty trolls will still be around after the election. I should know; I'm one of them. I read this blog because I like to think and learn (oh yeah, and the immigration thing).
It seems strange to me that readers of a blog don't want to read the opinions of those who might disagree with them (i.e., "trolls"). What, are you scared?
Liberals just define the meaning of age or not. Mandela is a God to these people and was by all accounts already senile when he got out of jail.
In spite of the alternative media, liberals still make the moral and cultural rules, which is why they are still in charge.
Roland asked: What, are you scared?
Hunsdon replied: Speaking, of course, strictly for myself, I don't fear the trolls; I merely dislike them. If they were here to engage in reasoned and spirited debate, that would be one thing. But just to show up to dun the Mittster?
Churchill has been treated well by history. I think he has a famous comment along those lines. He failed, however, at his defining purpose, i.e., saving the Empire. Good writer, great drunk, horrid statesman.
"Do you suppose an obese candidate, e.g. Chris Christie, is electable?"
Not after spending the last few days of the campaign stumping for Obama.
I was getting tired of his act, anyway. Blunt talk from a politician is absolutely refreshing, and I think a fat-ass president would be coolio, but Christie segued into annoying paternalism with his "get the hell off the beach" schtick. Ya know what, guvnah? Adults don't need to be told to "get the hell off the beach." A nice, polite public safety warning from you or (preferably) some lowlier government meteorological bureaucrat would suffice; but any grown American has the right to disobey, even to his death.
"Anonymous Anonymous said...
McCain should have been the Republican candidate in 2000 instead of Bush. Both were bad on immigration but McCain was less of a spender and might have handled the war diffidently."
While he was running for President in 2008, McCain said that we might have to stay in Iraq for 100 years. He's an idiot - a dangerous, bloody-minded, stupid old fool.
On the genetic side of things, remember that Romney's mother was under contract with MGM until George Romney convinced her to leave Hollywood to be a future millionaire's wife instead.
The prohibition is supposed to be on "hot drinks", not soda.
The Taubes reference seems to indicate they eat more meat than Adventists.
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