Q Toon: Candidate of Change

She may be behind in the polls by double digits, but I thought this might be a good time to take note of Misty Snow, the Democratic nominee for Utah's Senate seat, currently held by Tea Partisan Mike Lee. Snow is the first transgender candidate to win a major party nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Democrats don't stand much of a chance to win statewide elections in Utah, and it probably doesn't help Snow that she has what sounds like a porn name. Being transgender, she can't blame her parents for that. Officially, she is running as Misty K. Snow, which at least upgrades her name to sounding like the stage name of a satellite radio DJ.

Watson A. Name

"Misty" isn't even short for another name, as Cassie, Cindy, Betsy or Sandy are. Unless there's some female equivalent of Mstislav.

I was trying to think whether any male names presented the same sort of handicap as "Misty," Take-Me-Serious-wise. We've had a Vice President Hubert and a President Jimmy; a candidate could probably get away with a moniker like Chip or Butch. Walter Mondale was well advised not to campaign as Wally; but nobody addresses Bernie Sanders as "Bernard."

The worst male name for public office I've been able to think of is "Scooter," although that's not too far removed from "Scoop," the name of a long-time Senator from Washington. Scoop Jackson was even taken seriously as a presidential candidate in 1976 (just not by actual voters).

Lindsey Graham, perhaps, could only have gotten elected in South Carolina.