Rep. Tom Reed of New York used to be overweight. He had gastric bypass surgery in 2013, so now he’s skinny. Congressman Reed lost more than 100 pounds. He’s proud of that but you know what he doesn’t want to lose? The next election. His opponent is Martha Robertson, a former state legislator who thinks Reed’s the wrong man for the job. But which Reed is wrong–the overweight Tom Reed or the new, thin Tom Reed? If you look at Robertson’s ads, you’d think Reed’s transformation never took place. Her campaign invariably uses the heavy Reed in its photos.
“To see my opponent use this politically, it’s just offensive, and it’s offensive to millions of Americans who deal with this situation and I empathize with them,” said trim Tom Reed (see below) in an interview with NewsMax. It’s certainly true that in the history of politics it would be hard to find a candidate who deliberately chose the most flattering pics of their opponents. On the other hand, Reed won his congressional seat in 2010–when he was 100 pounds heavier. New York voters didn’t seem to mind.
