Too Fat to be POTUS?

Would Governor Chris Christie fit in our large whirlpool tub?

Today is the first primary of the 2012 election season. New Hampshire hasn't historically picked the winner, but if I had to bet, I would predict they just might this year. They pride themselves with not going along with the conventional choices. Tonight will reveal what box the undecided (over 50%) in the Granite State have checked in the Republican primary.

Last night New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie was speaking on behalf of the current presumed front runner, Mitt Romney. We know TV can add a few pounds, but Christie, in just a dress shirt and pants, looked even more rotund than I had remembered. Did he indulge in too much eggnog and fruitcake over Christmas? I thought he was on a diet!

There is still talk that he could be persuaded to be the VP pick and some even dream of a brokered convention where he would become the GOP nominee. Voters of all persuasions seem to admire his no-nonsense style of leadership. And Christie isn't just a big presence by virtue of his BMI numbers.

Can the electorate look beyond his waistline, accepting his weight without judgment?  Could a Christie of such corpulence ascend to the presidency?

Remember the fattest president ever, William Taft, who had a special bathtub installed in the White House? Taft was just under six feet tall and reached a weight of 350 pounds. Sadly, all we remember about him is that he got stuck in the White House bath tub. Who knows whether that is even true? I could imagine that a new installation in the White House now would exceed six figures--even though that would be a mere drop in the tub of national debt, a trickle of the trillions--down the drain. Maybe a (weight-challenged) president could just shower, with the installation of a very large curved shower bar.

I personally believe that Christie is too fat to be an acceptable American commander-in-chief. We have overcome the prejudice of race at the highest levels of government. We are close to overcoming the prejudice of sex (a woman for president). I don't think we have overcome the prejudice of fat.

We say that he would be too unhealthy--we couldn't take the risk. But really, we are just fat-ists.

Christie is just too fat to be elected president. Do you agree?

Taft's Tub?