Television has had a huge influence on elections starting with the Kennedy-Nixon debates. Kennedy obviously came across better on TV. Charisma and excellent public speaking helped Clinton and Obama win. We have elected a movie star (Reagan) and reality TV star (Trump).
This applies to music too. Most successful musicians are attractive. The exceptions are those who are obviously or deliberately unattractive like Meat Loaf or Alice Cooper. Because of video, you don’t see average looking folks become successful musicians.
I am discussing this because of Tom Nichols’s tweets.