TAHLEQUAH — If clothes really do make the man, can they also get him elected?

The concept of politicians “dressing the part” has been around at least as long as television, but with the relatively new distinction between “red states” and “blue states,” perplexing situations arise.

What if a Democrat wants to wear a red necktie, which according to those who study such things, conveys power? Will he be perceived as too conservative, since “red” states are the ones that go Republican? Or what if a Republican wants to wear a tie in a nice, soothing blue tone? Is he now a wimpy turncoat?

“Look at Donald Trump and his red ties,” said Sharon Haver, editor of www.focusonstyle.com, in an Associated Press interview.

A guy who wants to be perceived as strong and in charge would wear more red. Blue is a softer color. Look at the sky, and it’s peaceful and calm and trustworthy.

According to Haver, television, as mentioned earlier, has a lot to do with the color choices of politicians. Red, evidently, look great on TV, as long as it’s not too bright. But earth tones – like Al Gore wore in his 2000 bid for the presidency – have the potential to give the skin the same tone on TV. A green shirt could mean green skin, which people evidently don’t like to see in their leaders.

“I think that started with the Nixon/Kennedy debate, when Nixon wore brown or something, and Kennedy wore a black suit with a red tie,” said area resident Stephanie Blanchard, who isn’t a fashion expert, but studied the Nixon/Kennedy debate in college.

“Nixon was sick, too, and he looked pale, and hewear make-up like JFK did. After that, politicians in anything but a dark jacket and a red tie are probably kind of rare.”

So, would JFK wear a red tie these days, coming from the “blue” state of Massachusetts?

“I hate to think of politicians just wearing red if they’re Republicans, and just blue if they’re Democrats,” said Blanchard. “That’s a little disturbing. You’d think people could tell the difference after hearing them talk for about 30 seconds, instead of having to look at the tie.”

Of course, states haven’t always been either red or blue. Apparently, at one time, it was easy enough to refer to states that went Republican as “Republican” states, and those that went Democrat as “Democrat” states. But both of those words may have had too many syllables for an election night TV commentator to handle. “Red” and “blue” do kind of roll off the tongue.

“Prior to 2000, there was no uniform color scheme,” Adam Schiffer, assistant professor of political science at Texas Christian College, told AP. “The networks almost always, but not always, used red and blue, but what’s interesting is there was no agreement on which color stood for which party. In fact, most of the time red was associated with Democrats and blue was associated with Republicans. Some of the networks alternated it so it didn’t look like they were favoring one party or another, if somebody perceived one color as being more desirable.”

The red and blue state concept of 2000 caught on, and was used once again during the 2004 presidential election. Now “red state” and “blue state” (as well as derivatives like “red stater” and “blue stater”) are part of the American lexicon.

So how does this new national partisan color-scheme apply locally?

Neither Sen. Jim Wilson nor State Rep. Mike Brown, both of Tahlequah, are big fans of neckties. They both said they’ll wear them when it’s appropriate, but they’re pretty sure their constituencies are smart enough not to read too much into the color of their ties (when they do wear them).

“I can talk to anyone around here, whether I’m wearing a suit or jeans,” said Wilson. “It’s demeaning to assume people actually make decisions based on what color of tie a candidate is wearing.”

Brown said that with just two neckties in his collection (which makes his necktie collection twice as big as this writer’s), he hopes people don’t assume too much about his stand on political issues based on what he’s wearing.

“I hate putting tags on anybody, like blue/red, liberal/conservative, because all those tags end up not meaning anything – they always change,” said Brown. “I just dress appropriately for the occasion.”

Brown said an occasional red Tabasco sauce tie, or OU and OSU neckties, show up on the House floor. But the red/blue dichotomy isn’t something state officials take too seriously when they put their ties on in the morning.

“People aren’t stupid,” he said. “I think it all comes down to what you say and how you follow up on your vote, not what tie you’re wearing,”