Spin Cycle

Bystanders add appeal to debates

Sweater-wearer Kenneth Bone made a warm, fuzzy impression at the second presidential debate in St. Louis last Sunday.
Sweater-wearer Kenneth Bone made a warm, fuzzy impression at the second presidential debate in St. Louis last Sunday.

There are just three more days until the third and final debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Everyone's focus is on the next POTUS. President of the United States.

But my focus is on the next MITC. Man in the Crowd.

It's been a long, long, long election season full of interrupting, lying, grandstanding, accusing, denying, sniffing, coughing and, um, grabbing. The only bright light has been the sweet, spontaneous distraction unintentionally offered by occasional bystanders.

Men in the Crowd like Gregory Caruso and Kenneth Bone.

You might not know their names, but you know exactly who they are: #HotDebateGuy and Red Sweater Man.

They're two regular dudes (OK, maybe Caruso's dad is a billionaire real estate developer and GOP donor) who just showed up to watch a debate, but they ended up winning it, at least if social media shares count for anything. Here's a bit more about them.

GREGORY CARUSO

Back in September 2015, America fell in love at the second Republican debate. Not with the candidates. Not with debate moderator, CNN's Jake Tapper. With the guy sitting behind Tapper. Until his identity was discovered, a collectively crushing social media referred to him as #HotDebateGuy.

The preppy vision sat there with his chiseled facial features, expressive brows, sculpted hair and striped tie, making a statement without saying anything.

Social media said plenty. Tweets ranged from "Can #hotdebateguy sit in the same place every debate this year?" to "Time to just put the #HotDebateGuy on the ten dollar bill."

We haven't heard from Caruso in a while (probably because the 25-year-old filmmaker is not social media savvy -- his friends had to inform him of his fame). He made a TV appearance or two and last made headlines in February, voicing his support for Republican candidate Gov. John Kasich.

A lot of good that did, #HotDebateGuy. Stick to being pretty.

KENNETH BONE

Kenneth Bone was one of the undecided voters who shared the stage with the presidential candidates and asked a question (one we can't really remember, blah, blah, energy, blah; we were entirely too electrified by the mere presence of balding, mustached, glasses-wearing Ken!) in last week's town hall-style debate in St. Louis.

For his debate garb, Ken of Illinois wore a chunky red sweater with a zippered collar and khakis. Remarked one tweeter: "I want Ken Bone to wrap that beautiful red cable-knit sweater of his around our divided nation. Only his warmth can save us now." He was hot debate guy in the other sense.

He did not choose the ensemble to look stylish or to stay warm. He needed a backup plan after he split his suit pants getting in the car. He explained to a St. Louis radio station with his Midwestern charm: "I was just fat. Happy consequence of eating like an athlete and not training like one."

Now he's an internet sensation, and his iconic sweater is sold out on Amazon.com. In a TV interview, he shared his reaction to his instant fame: "Yesterday I had seven Twitter followers and two of them were my grandma because she forgot her password and had to do it over."

Who will the MITC be Wednesday when the final debate takes place at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas? Or will we have a WITC (how we'd love a woman to represent!)?

He or she has some big shoes -- or at least a big red sweater -- to fill.

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Spin Cycle is a smirk at pop culture. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Style on 10/16/2016

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