LET YOUR EARS DO THE SHOPPING FOR CANDIDATES

Would voters have elected Harry Truman president had they known of his close relationship with the Pendergast machine? Would Ike have twice defeated Adlai Stevenson had a special counsel investigated his long-standing relationship with his female driver? How about full public knowledge of the sexual peccadilloes of Jack Kennedy or the uncouth behavior of Lyndon Johnson or the World War II flights of fancy of Ronald Reagan? Millions of voters held suspicions that Dick Nixon hated more than just communists, and Jimmy Carter evoked a you-got-to-be-kidding reaction from millions of other voters.

All of these electoral winners managed to hide their normal human frailties by deflecting public inspection, making them not unlike all the rest of us who hardly go around proclaiming in a loud voice the kind of information we only barely admit to ourselves.

All of the Political Alphas listed above won for one or several reasons, few if any having anything to do with how they intended to run the government once ensconced in the oval office.

Advancing the calendar to this moment, Bush the Son may win not because he would win most screen tests but because his opponent has less personal appeal than he does. Gore might win but only if a majority sublimate his association with an impeached president and wish to be put to sleep every time he appears on the tube.

The reason for this genealogical exercise is to point up the obvious conclusion that a vast majority cast votes from perceptions which we have gained from the limited time we pay attention to the candidates and what they believe and what they say they believe.

Unfortunately, we will use the same gut reactions to select Missouri's next governor and virtually all of the other statehouse officials, our next U.S. senator and all nine U.S. representatives. The state sends three women to Congress and two of the three were selected because of their close association with a popular political figure. We select another congressman on the basis of his race.

Note that in all of these contests, not one word about any of the candidates' beliefs, contributions, qualifications or vision has been mentioned.

Even though we won't admit it, we judge candidates more on the basis of how they look and the impression their appearance conveys than any deep devotion to issues. We never acknowledge that a candidate must first pass our appearance test before we will even begin to consider him or her seriously enough for an important public office.

In recent weeks I have heard Missourians say that this or that candidate doesn't really look like a governor or a member of Congress or an attorney general. I think many of us still believe senators and governors and state treasurers must resemble our grandfathers before we will even begin to consider the viability of their candidacy.

Frankly, I shudder to think what kind of a nation we might have today had we not had Jefferson, Lincoln and FDR. For that matter, we might not even have a nation today.

I'd like to have a dollar for every time I have suggested or stated that America has reached its level of excellence because of our founding fathers' concepts or because the American people were willing to sacrifice for the greater good. Some of this is true, of course, but it is undoubtedly more accurate to say that we have reached this point in history because of sheer luck or fortunate circumstances. I would not rule out the possibility of Divine Intervention, although I'm not sure the collective majority has done anything to merit the wisdom of a Jefferson or a Madison or a Lincoln. I'm more persuaded that Someone is preserving our culture because the available alternatives are simply unacceptable.

We had better start listening to what the candidates have to say (not to be confused with those speeches they read for the first time) and less attention to how they appear. Bob Dole never won a national race because voters never listened to him -- they were too busy noticing his appearance. Dole was probably the best informed and qualified presidential candidate in the last two decades; we simply failed to notice it.

The next time you see a president candidate on TV, close your eyes and listen. Your nation will thank you.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.