Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman seems to be growing in stature. Literally.
In a glossy eight-page campaign spread sent last week to GOP voters, Gov. Bill Owens‘ former technology secretary appears to have grown in inch or two.
Were the images altered to make him appear taller than he actually is? Or is it the work of a vendor trying to fit an image into a pre-designed space, as his campaign speculates?
Witness the photos, above, taken with President Reagan. In the top photo, which appeared Wednesday on www.marc2006.com, the tuft of hair on top of Holtzman’s head almost touches the bottom of the shelf. In the version below it, from the campaign brochure, the tuft is gone and Holtzman’s head is now above the shelf.
In the more recent photo taken with President Bush and Holtzman’s fiancee, Kristin Hubbell, (scroll down to the end of this column to see it) Holtzman is clearly shorter than Bush, as indeed, he is. But in the campaign brochure, he looms within an inch or two of the president.
Holtzman’s campaign can’t explain the photos. “Nobody at our shop did anything to these but put them in a FedEx box,” said Dick Leggitt, Holtzman’s campaign manager. That box was shipped to Marcus & Allen, LLC, a Richmond, Va., PR outfit that assembled the ad. Their last big client was the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth – the group that maligned John Kerry‘s Vietnam service last fall with ads claiming he lied to get medals.
“They put everything together and mailed it,” Leggitt said. He couldn’t reach the group Wednesday night, but theorized that “after digitizing the photos, they illuminated them to improve their clarity and the graphics guy cropped and enlarged them to fit the box available.
“This is like a Ronald Reagan shrine over here,” he added. “We have a lot of photos of [Holtzman and Reagan] sitting down. If we were concerned about the height situation, we’d just use one of those.”
Greater height is thought to be a political plus. Before a 1988 presidential debate, then Vice President George H.W. Bush famously prolonged his handshake with Democratic foe Michael Dukakis, supposedly on the advice of campaign handlers who sought to emphasize his six-inch height advantage for TV viewers.
Taller people are often seen as more authoritative and stronger leaders, Timothy Judge, a management professor at the University of Florida, told USA Today last year. His study found taller people tend to receive higher job evaluations and are paid more – even if their job has nothing to do with their height.
Holtzman’s only GOP competitor at this point is Congressman Bob Beauprez, who’s over 6 feet tall.
The Springs turns blue
Colorado Springs’ recent ranking as the country’s sixth most conservative city may be in jeopardy. Colorado Democrats, hoping to cement their historic gains in the state last year, are meeting in the Springs this weekend for their 2005 Democratic Summit. Saturday night, the Rev. Al Sharpton is scheduled to address hundreds of Democratic activists and state officials at the Sheraton Hotel.
Udall setting roots
Cast aside any thoughts that Rep. Mark Udall will swoop in and run for governor. The Eldorado Springs Democrat just signed papers on a Washington, D.C., condo. His sights are set on being re-elected to Congress in 2006 and then running for Senate in 2008.
16th minute of fame
Bernard Goldberg‘s new book, “100 People Who Are Screwing up America,” lists only one Coloradan. Just behind Phil Donahue is Ward Churchill, the toxic University of Colorado prof who landed at No. 72. (Predictably, Bush-basher Michael Moore was No. 1.)
Dan Haley (dhaley@denverpost.com) is a member of the Post’s editorial board.
