Playing The ‘Weight Card’ – Chris Christie’s Heft…Is It a Legitimate Campaign Issue?

Editor's note: this opinion piece would usually appear on the blog, but we are featuring it on our front page.

Washington Post Opinion Writer Eugene Robinson seems to have disqualified Chris Christie from the 2012 Presidential Race based on his weight.

The NJ Gov and possible 2012 Presidential Candidate Chris Christie is under attack by the Left. Not for his stance on union givebacks or budget cuts - but for his weight.

Robinson's piece, titled "Chris Christie's Big Problem," attempts to legitimize an obvious agenda of undercutting the governor's potential candidacy by quoting the statistics we've all heard about regarding the obesity epidemic in America and the costs of that epidemic today and in the future. A curious quote from the article seems to try and connect Christie's inability to fit into Robinson's ideal of what a President should physically look like, with leadership:

He prides himself on bullheaded determination and speaks often about the need for officials to display leadership. Well, Gov. Christie, lead thyself.

Really? Mr. Robinson? Did weight prevent our 27th President, William Howard Taft from governing?

The selective concern from Mr. Robinson is apparent. For example, he claims to be worried about Christie's health, but says nothing about the weight of other powerful elected/appointed public officials. The Surgeon General Regina Benjamin (below) isn't pencil-thin. And one could make a pitch that the Surgeon General should lead by example:

The article also fails to mention Barney Frank's extra pounds:

Of course we could go on and on, pointing out the less-than-perfect physiques that populate the halls of government all across the country, but why?

Don't we all believe that a candidate should be judged on what is in their heart and brain, or does BMI matter? Apparently to Robinson it does. It would be difficult to not see the small-minded, meanness in the closing line from the WaPo piece:

Politically, I disagree with Christie on almost everything. I’ll have plenty of opportunities to tell him why. Today, I’d just like to offer him a bit of unsolicited, nonpartisan, sincere advice: Eat a salad and take a walk.

Does the weight of a politician matter?  Take the poll. "Weigh in" with your opinion.

Chris Christie's Weight