Should there be a Maximum BMI for being president?

Even more fear and hatred of overweight people? No wonder politicians have so much in common with the thinner Hollywood celebrities.
 
While I, as a person of substantial pudge, respect that position as it is one I also adhere to, that doesn't fly for potential Presidents. I honestly think I wouldn't vote for Christie because of his weight. Governor is one thing, the Presidency quite another.

If I don't want to lose weight, but rather enjoy my winter insulation, that's my call. A President doesn't have that freedom. He is a symbol of our country. I don't expect Mr Universe physiques or anything, but I expect a President to be fit. They owe it to the country that elects them.
 
I would think having a fairly strict health check to make sure candidates are both physically and mentally fit to be PotUS would be smart to have as intense a job that it seems to be, and I think I have heard that such a thing already exists when there was all that ruckus ove John McCains health. BMI is a fairly worthless measure as far as I know. Better just have a good doctors opinion.
 
There is no legal health check required. It's up to the voters to decide collectively via the ballot box (which of course just helps determine the real electors) if their health concerns are big enough to keep him out of office.

Nor should there be a legal one required. In fact, there cannot be one without a Constitutional amendment because the requirements for the Presidency are clearly spelled out in the Constitution. Course, with activist judges, anything can become Constitutional...
 
Aren't we only a few election cycles away from an American Idol type system anyway?
 
There is no legal health check required. It's up to the voters to decide collectively via the ballot box (which of course just helps determine the real electors) if their health concerns are big enough to keep him out of office.

Nor should there be a legal one required. In fact, there cannot be one without a Constitutional amendment because the requirements for the Presidency are clearly spelled out in the Constitution. Course, with activist judges, anything can become Constitutional...

Brain fart on my part then. The "checks" I was remembering on candidates was more a background check for security clearance I guess. Still, a more general health check seems a good idea to me, but I can see how you could see it as an unnecessary distortion of democracy. PotUS just seems like such an intensive job even compared to other national leadership positions.
 
While I, as a person of substantial pudge, respect that position as it is one I also adhere to, that doesn't fly for potential Presidents. I honestly think I wouldn't vote for Christie because of his weight. Governor is one thing, the Presidency quite another.

If I don't want to lose weight, but rather enjoy my winter insulation, that's my call. A President doesn't have that freedom. He is a symbol of our country. I don't expect Mr Universe physiques or anything, but I expect a President to be fit. They owe it to the country that elects them.

You care about what foreigners think of your president?
 
To a very small degree, I suppose, but I meant a symbol to his/her people in that context.
 
:lol: You're doing that on purpose!

Yes. Yes I am. I was quite proud when I nearly got LucyDuke to smash her keyboard in faux-outrage at my targeted comments. Such is the nature of affection, I guess. edit: but, for the record, I'd have accepted an allusion to the Franchise Wars, too.
 
Not only healthy, you have to look good representing the number1 country in the world.

Is it just me, or did anyone else thought immediately about Putin upon reading this?
 
Not only healthy, you have to look good representing the number1 country in the world.
I like to think that the vast majority of the world's population isn't so shallow. That not only did they find anything wrong with Tate based on his weight, that they also didn't dislike FDR for merely being confined to a wheelchair.

Not to mention that many US presidents were hardly all that photogenic. That didn't really start becoming very important until the 1960 election due to television coverage of the debates when Nixon didn't take the necessary time to beautify himself beforehand. It hasn't been until the 20th Century and suffrage that the presidential elections started to take on the aura of a beauty pageant.

The 8 Ugliest U.S. Presidents

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Health schmealth.

Anybody can drop dead, or be in a car accident, or be struck by lightning at any time. You hear people saying that if you have an old POTUS, then the VP is "just one heartbeat away from the Presidency"... that's true of every single VP. Sure, an unhealthy Pres might have a greater risk of dying for medical reasons, but how often do you hear of "unhealthy" people living well into their 90's while someone dies of a heart attack or cancer in their 30's or 40's? Anything can happen.

I feel like I'd rather have an unheathly person in office for 2 years enacting policies that I agree with and are helpful to the nation than having 2 full terms with a Pres whose policies I don't agree with and is not moving our nation forward.
 
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