Carte Goodwin Makes Politics Look Hot

With Governor Joe Manchin’s recent appointment of Carte Goodwin to fill Senator Byrd’s United States Senate seat, I can’t help but wonder how much the media will play up the new U.S. Senator. He’s handsome, well-connected, and the first of his kind; he’s the youngest U.S. Senator. Carte Goodwin is already the new face of West Virginia, but the more I think about it, Governor Manchin’s appointee is more than that. Could Carte Goodwin be the new face of American politicians?

During an election, voters tend to cast their ballot for the candidate they feel best represents them. And, no offense, but what does someone twice my age know about what I want and what issues are important to me? What policy needs do I share with my grandparents? If given the option, I would vote for someone I can relate to who understands the needs of my generation over someone who’s been in office for years and years. Historically, voters tend to choose a more attractive candidate, regardless of their politics. Remember Kennedy and Nixon’s debate during the boob tube revolution in politics? Kennedy was so much nicer to look at.

Handsome enough to be a boy-band pop-star and more attractive by far than Scott Brown, Goodwin will surely make the front page of newspapers and be on the cover of magazines. With Senator Rockefeller and Governor Manchin behind him, he’ll be sure to work well alongside current U.S. senators, but he also attractively appeals to Gen X and Gen Y. In other words, Carte Goodwin makes politics look hot.

Never Judge a Shoebox By It's Cover

Recently I had the pleasure of being able to hear Senator Rockefeller (D - West Virginia) speak to a group of young leaders in Charleston, WV. He spoke about digital scandals, online crimes, and healthcare. When he spoke about universal healthcare, he mentioned something we’ve all heard of, “the public option.” What exactly is the public option? Do you know? Is it just one piece of legislation, or are there several that fall under this heading?

In all reality, the public option is a government-run health insurance agency which competes with other health insurance agencies. Publicly-funded healthcare and the public option are NOT the same. Several pieces of legislation were introduced, and they each covered a certain number of U.S. citizens. According to Senator Rockefeller, his covered several more million Americans than others that were introduced under the “public option.”

In all honestly, I have yet to read any of these bills, but I do know there were several pieces of legislation introduced under the title “the public option.” So many people are against “the public option,” but do they really know what that term/title/brand means? Did they actually take the time to read the bills that were put before Congress? Most likely not, but they still have negative attitudes toward anything called “the public option.”

If you saw a girl walking down the street in covered from head-to-stiletto in Chanel, what would you think of her? Probably that she was some society PR girl who had too much free time on her hands. Why do you judge her that way? Because she’s branded. Did you ever ask her what her masters degree was in? Where she studied abroad? How many volunteer hours she had in undergrad? In summation, before you form an opinion about anything that’s titled or branded, take a second look. Never judge a shoebox by its cover.