Marco Rubio’s Boots are Hot Topic on Campaign Trail

Ronn Torossian

At some point in every presidential campaign, the nonstop 24-7 coverage goes off the rails. People look so closely at the candidates that the most mundane and silly details get blown way out of proportion.

Take Marco Rubio’s boots.

The junior Senator from Florida and GOP presidential hopeful created a fashion-based firestorm recently when he was spotted wearing a pair of black high-heeled boots. Ordinarily, this might earn him nothing more than a few weisenheimer remarks on social media, but not when you’re running for POTUS.

Rubio understands he will not win by going far right in this election. So, banking on his youth and exuberance, Rubio has run center-right on policy and even more toward center on tone. He’s the young, hip, positive face of the GOP.

A recent Rubio commercial bears this out. There’s the candidate, walking backstage, having a running conversation with someone firing pop culture questions regarding his favorite movie, his preferred brand of mobile device, etc. In that piece, Rubio hits all the right marks. He is strong, warm and energetic.

Now to the boots. Sure, they help add a couple inches he lacks in stature next to Cruz and Trump, but they also leave Marco open for easy attacks.

First, from angry, disaffected Trump voters, who would rather have a “winner,” a he-man, a macho man, those boots are simple emasculating. Even the lone female in the GOP field made this connection. Carly Fiorina tweeted a pair of her even more high-heeled boots to Rubio asking: can you rock these, Marco?

Yes, this is silly, and, yes, it’s below rational political discourse for most elections — but hey, this field is already battling beneath the belt more than usual. With this many people in the game, everything matters in the world of perception. Even boots.

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Ronn Torossian is the CEO of 5W Public Relations. 5WPR is headquartered in NYC with offices in Denver and Los Angeles.