The AgFirst Co-op Elevator in Aurora hosted a hastily convened meeting on the stalled Farm Bill yesterday. With so little notice, hardly anyone was able to attend, just a couple reporters, a blogger (who didn't have the time to report any substantive discussion of what the farm bill will or should include if it ever passes), five guys and some shabby-looking gal in frayed jeans, a hoodie, and a cap pulled low over her eyes...
Clik here to view.
Rep. Kristi Noem meets a handful of constituents and reporters at the AgFirst Co-op Elevator, Aurora, South Dakota, 2013.10.24. Image from KELO video.
Wait a minute! That hoodie-lum is Congresswoman Kristi Noem! But she sure doesn't look very Congressional. She looks more like she's headed out to the barn to shovel some horsesh... oh, well, um....
Send me to the penalty box for thinking bad words. Republicans, write the blog for me. What's that you say, Joel?
Elected officials should remember their physical appearance is important. They must project an image reflective that they represent others. Citizens will not support someone as their representative who doesn’t present well. I scribe this because of the disheveled appearance of Rep. Stace Nelson who looked like he just got out of bed with his wrinkled shirt and sleeves rolled up above the elbow [Joel Rosenthal, "Political Speeches," South Dakota Straight Talk, 2013.09.22].
And Pat, come again?
There’s a saying out there, which I most recently caught while ignoring my wife watching “What Not to Wear.” I hate most television, especially reality shows, but this was an absolute truism: Don’t dress for the job you have. Dress for the job you want [emphasis in original; Pat Powers, "Dress That Candidate Up. At Least South Dakota Style," Dakota War College, 2013.09.23].
Ah, maybe Noem did take Pat's advice and is showing us which job she wants us to give her next year.
Oh, sorry. Pat was still speaking:
Congresswoman Noem dresses similarly, always looking neat and professional. She dresses down for many Republican events, and it’s not unusual to see her in jeans when it’s appropriate, but she never, everlooks sloppy or ratty.
In fact for most Republican events I attend, she’s usually one of the most fashionably dressed ones there [Powers, 2013.09.23].
...additionally...
You wouldn’t wear a suit to a cattle yard, but as a candidate, you aren’t working the yard, either [Powers, 2013.09.23].
When U.S. Senate candidate and bête noire of the GOP mainstream wears clean jeans and rolled up shirt sleeves, the GOP fashion police holler. When Kristi Noem slums it to a public meeting, Rosenthal and Powers (who's there to adore her with his camera) yield the floor to the crickets... just as they do when it comes to discussing Noem's failure to pass the Farm Bill for South Dakota.