Of course he didnt have to contend with television either.

Like a great many things once shielded from visual appeal based factors, politics has changed a lot. Video did more than kill the radio star.....it killed the political types who lack video appeal too although it will take longer.

I once had a great conversation about music with a friend and we talked about whether Areosmith or Meatloaf could have made it had video been a major factor when they started out....no hollywood good lucks are dominant--would we have seen Buddy Holly, Led Zep, Rush (the band)? I think the lack of reliance on looks allowed some amazing artists into the public ear and that once video became more important than music we have seen considerably less quality in music and a real stress on record companies on looks.

Of course we still have Janet Reno and many a plump low level political figure, but there can be no doubt that a new filter will make it hard to rise past a certain level in politics. once your appeal needs to go national it is pretty unlikely you will make it without a certain level of tv-friendly appearance quality.

Its amazing what a few generations of breeding will do....one of the main reasons I always found justifications for inherited power to be so bad (not a comment on Taft--just pointing out that relations dont neccessarily carry over talents or characteristics no matter how much of a genetic link there is).

Im sure the younger Taft is happy not to be "blessed" with that particular weight trait.

I once had a great conversation about music with a friend and we talked about whether Areosmith or Meatloaf could have made it had video been a major factor when they started out....no hollywood good lucks are dominant--would we have seen Buddy Holly, Led Zep, Rush (the band)?

Ever heard of the Ed Sullivan show? Top of the Pops? Ready Steady Go? American Bandstand? Everyone knew that the Rolling Stones were all really weird looking, even without MTV.

"Ever heard of the Ed Sullivan show? Top of the Pops? Ready Steady Go? American Bandstand? Everyone knew that the Rolling Stones were all really weird looking, even without MTV. "

Live performances are always radically different than a commercial video. Yes, people knew the rock stars were a little odd--in fact even the Beatles mop top hair cuts had the precursors of Fox News in a huff....they had western civilization in its decline because of such musicians having fame. But in those days, the real way to access music was records and radio....not so much today.

Bands like Heart and artists like Pat Benetar openly say their careers took a tumble when they refused to change their image to hollywoods demands....Benetar was so unhappy with her first couple rock videos she insisted she would simply film concert footage for videos and that didnt fly....Ann Wilson of Heart was absolutely heartbroken by the way she was all but eliminated in videos of songs she sang while her skinny sister Nancy was featured...Nancy admitted that people thought Ann was fat and the promoters went out of their way to either hide it in costume and make up or outright leave her out....and Ann was lead vocals. The shows you mention were merely live performances of songs which were dependent on radio air time-not video time. Today the video is key to the band or the artists success and those who lack real visual appeal dont get airplay....and worse yet, those with visual appeal but no other talent generally get more airplay.