Ties and presidential debates

Ties and debates

The presidential race is getting started and here at Tieroom we always keep an eye on the main issue. What ties are candidates wearing? Not all of them are wearing ties of course, Hillary Clinton won't be seen with a tie. But her choice in shirt color and jacket color plays the same role in her wardrobe as the tie does for the men.

Does the tie make the man?

In politics ties come in every color. Some keep it subtle and some seem to push agendas with their ties. Check out congressman Alan Grayson in the Stars and Stripes tie on the left. Just in case you weren't sure if he loved our country he has a stylish rendering of the flag around his neck and near his heart. That's just one of a ton of fantastic ties on capital hill. Over on Wikipedia we can see a poised Mitt Romney wearing a lavender tie with what looks like a Lacrosse stick pattern. So the rules of tie fashion in the capital don’t appear to be too strict.

That Mr. Romney went with a lavender tie isn't surprising. It has the same soothing effect he had on people. Lavender ties are a source of a lot of political discussion here at Tieroom. I think Pierce is lavender tie, but Matthew calls it light purple. We don't speak about this around the lunch table anymore. ?

The debate is on

But once the main act is on stage everything changes. Back in 1960 the televised debate proved it mattered, with 6% of people saying they decided who to vote for purely based on the debate.

That influence has only grown, and the importance of what tie the candidates are wearing has grown with it. The risk of seeming unpresidential due to a flashy tie is too large. So over the past 20 years candidates stick to a red tie or a blue tie most of the time. Some debates have had other colors. In the next few posts we will go through what tie colors candidates have had in the elections since Carter and Reagan went head to head and see if the color of the tie tells us anything about the candidate.