Lenny LaCour is rooting for a Democratic victory in November, but his reasons are professional, not political. In the past four years, his industry has been Bush-whacked.
LaCour, a Chicago-area hair stylist who touched up the coiffures of delegates and politicians just before they mounted the podium at the Democratic National Convention, says a president and first lady can make or break his business because they set fashion trends for the nation.
”One thing about the Reagan administration that people liked was the beauty of it,” LaCour said. ”Barbara Bush destroyed the beauty business, going around saying she didn`t care what people thought of her personal image. The people in my industry are hoping for Bill and Hillary (Clinton) and Al and Tipper (Gore) because they`ll create things that really make people feel good again.”
All the speakers at the Democrats` convention this week were coiffed and made up before exposing themselves to the bright lights and television cameras. Perhaps they remember the Kennedy-Nixon debates of 1960, when Nixon scorned makeup and came across on television looking more like a Mafia thug than a candidate.
”Image is everything,” LaCour said. The Des Plaines resident said politicians with the Illinois delegation, especially Mayor Richard M. Daley, Sen. Paul Simon and Senate candidate Carol Moseley Braun, were ”absolutely delightful” to work with, but others made his life difficult.
”(Rep.) Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) was very uptight,” LaCour said. ”Jerry Brown was very, very uptight. He insisted on not coming into the makeup room.
