Mike Pence breaks "iron clad" rule for a good cause
Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence broke the "iron clad" no hats rule of politics on Friday when he put on a white motorcycle helmet at an event in Indianapolis.
But unlike Mike Dukakis's infamous awkward 1988 tank ride, where he wore headgear that inspired comparisons to Snoopy, Pence looked perfectly comfortable riding a Harley Davidson Street Glide motorcycle while sporting blue jeans, a black vest -- and a helmet.
Riding past cornfields and spectators in cars pulled over on the side of the road, the Indiana governor led a hundred or so motorcyclists from the group ABATE which promotes motorcycle safety while an SUV full of reporters trailed. The event raised money for the Indiana National Guard Family fund.
For whatever reason, politicians have tended to eschew hats since the presidency of John F. Kennedy, who rarely wore one. During the Wisconsin Republican primary in April, Senator Ted Cruz explained what he called an "iron-clad rule of politics" -- "no funny hats" -- when his daughter tried to put a Wisconsin cheesehead on him in front of a group of reporters, leading him to promptly take it off.
Cruz, a noted cheese lover, explained half-seriously that "any hat is, by definition, defined as a funny hat. Michael Dukakis demonstrated that powerfully when he put on a helmet and rode in a tank. So I will cheer on the hats of others but I think the people of Wisconsin wear their cheeseheads so powerfully that I would not presume to intrude in the elegancy in which the people of Wisconsin wear those hats."
Alongside other norms politics, Pence's running mate, Donald Trump, broke the rule months ago when he began wearing his signature "Make America Great Again" hat.