OUR DUKAKIS:

One of the few reliable truths in electoral politics is that voters like tall presidents.

The average U.S. president is about two inches taller than the average U.S. man, who is 5'9". Recent presidents have skewed even larger: Every president since Jimmy Carter (5'9.5") has been 5'11.5" or taller. We haven't elected a president smaller than the average man in nearly 130 years, when short king William McKinley won his election.

"We are a species that equates larger size with maturity, leadership and sex appeal," wrote Jay Mathews in the Washington Post in 1999. "If we were like some insects, where adults are smaller than larvae, we might not think this way. But we do."

So it stands to reason that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is thirstily gunning for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, would want to, let's say, amplify his stature. Rumor has it that the governor is around 5'9".

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