Press Tackles Uneasy Subject of Candy's Weight

Given that CNN Candy Crowley appears on national TV on a regular basis, it's inevitable that she faces any and all kinds of comments about her appearance. But this is the second time that her looks, more specifically, her weight, have received widespread attention online within three years. New York magazine has a Twitter roundup of the criticism of tonight's presidential debate moderator-- pointedly, observations about her weight. They include the following nasty missives. "Hope you & your big fat over weight ass have the courage to stand up to Obama and ask him some tough questions at debate," said one asshole. "Candy Crowley is a disgusting liberal pig," said another. "Why in the fuck is her fat ass moderating the debate Tuesday night?" And a third: "If the leftist fat slob Monica Crowley is meant to be a fair moderator, why not Rush Limbaugh, Barry Farber, etc.?" It's not necessarily a journalist thing or even a sexist thing. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was and still is often talked about in terms of his girth. Nonetheless, DoubleThink's J.P. Freire says there's a difference. "Christie isn't judged purely by his appearance," Freire told FishbowlDC. "In many ways, being large is an asset to a man where it most certainly isn't considered so for a woman. And let's be clear too: Christie has joked about his appearance." He added, "The point is, let's get past this superficial nonsense and just recognize that it takes strength and talent to get to where these people are. Now pass me some more cheese." TheGrio's Joy Reid went on the offensive for Crowley. "Candy Crowley attacked about her weight by unpleasant right wingers on Twitter," she wrote in a tweet last night. "Stay classy, #tcot!" The hashtag Reid included is a call out to the "top conservatives on Twitter," who were among Crowley's harshest critics. LAT's James Rainey wrote a whole column on Crowley's weight in 2009. After some Google-browsing, Rainey noticed a fair amount of blog posts that referenced Crowley's weight loss. So he asked her about it. From the column: [A] few days after I first made contact, the veteran of eight presidential campaigns agreed it might be worth talking, a little, about her new incarnation. She wanted to thank the many fans who have been e-mailing to express their admiration. And she wanted to knock down a few myths. So here it is, straight up and on the record: There has been no Lap-Band. No gastric bypass. No surgery at all. Rather, Crowley said, she has been dieting, swimming and working out, sometimes with a trainer, since last December. At the time, Crowley told Rainey she feels "great physically" and that she's "lighter now in a lot of ways," thanks to taking up transcendental meditation.

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Press Tackles Uneasy Subject of Candy's Weight

Eddie Scarry

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Eddie Scarry