The Kiss

``This magic moment while your lips are close to mine
Will last forever, forever till the end of time.''
— Jay and the Americans, This Magic Moment. Clip presented by Amazon.com.

``It's perpetual bliss.
It's that pivotal moment
It's (ahhh) subliminal
This kiss, this kiss
It's criminal
This kiss, this kiss.''
— Faith Hill, This Kiss.

The kiss is used as a symbol of love, passion, compassion, affection, acquaintance, loyalty, and greeting. It is even used in religious rituals. In this presidential election cycle it also seems to mark turning points or at least important moments in campaigns. Vice-President Al Gore effectively erased his image as boring and uninteresting in one grand gesture, one televised lip-lock. By embracing and kissing his wife, Gore painted himself as a person of compassion. One wonders whether this is a sustainable strategy. Can he keep on just kissing his wife in public or must he become more physically affectionate?

Gore missed an opportunity to kiss Oprah Winfrey when visiting her daytime program. Oprah (I guess she is one of the handful of people who can go by their first name) seemed a little disappointed and humorously inquired as to why she didn't receive a kiss. Not to be out done in the smooching competition, Governor George W. Bush planted an affectionate smack on Oprah's cheek accompanied with a warm embrace. She was surprised, pleased, and taken by the gesture.

So is this it? Have campaigns been reduced to symbolic gestures? Have issues simply become backdrops against which symbols dominate?

Actually, presidential elections have always been decided more on an emotional level than an intellectual one. If people feel personally comfortable, the polity will overlook details and generally vote to maintain the status quo. If people feel threatened or vulnerable, they look for the candidate who promises to alleviate the anxiety. Circumstances do not even have to be pleasant for incumbents to do well. During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt kept getting re-elected because people perceived he cared and he provided credible reassurance.

The real importance of the kiss is that it appears to resonate most with women. The shift in Al Gore's poll numbers, at least coincident with the kiss, was mostly among women and then among unmarried women. Bush, apparently still retains an advantage among married women. This kiss is symbolic of a loving father heading a family.

George Orwell's "Big Brother" was the wrong metaphor. Men may appreciate the mentoring of a big brother, but women appear to want the security of a good provider. Of course, women are not all alike but they do seem more susceptible to the message of government as provider of last resort, and perhaps not so last resort. This susceptibility is evident in the different voting patterns of men and women. Women vote more for Democrats than men do.

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