Mary, love you as a fellow citizen, but you are a distinct minority: the fact is looks influences our behaviour and tastes -- and especially (I think) when it comes to choosing leaders. They're the ones you want to be taller than the rest when doing photo-ops with the G-8, confidence pouring out of them, and easy on the eyes. We're human after all.

One anecdotal note: I lived in Texas after Gov. Bush got kicked upstairs, and the winner was Rick Perry: amazing airhead but so damn handsome...

Malcom Gladwell has a whole chapter on the perceive relationship between good looks and success in politics appropriately titled, "The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall for Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men" in his book Blink.

I thought I heard, from a beautiful lawyer I knew, that beautiful men _and_ women failed to acheive really great success. That, after a certain point, people assume beautiful people are dumb.

That dark haired and dark eyed people are succesful in boardrooms (rather than blonde and blue eyed, traditionally considered va-va-voomable) was the result of another study I thought I heard about.

When was the last time YOU worked out? What kind of leftist are you really if you won't make the effort to get in shape, so people appreciate you for dumb things instead of just real things?

substitute
"that after a certain point"
with
"that after a certain height on the ladder of success"