May 16, 2018 11:20 AM UTC

Making Walker Stapleton (Slightly) Less Awkward

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• by: Colorado Pols

It’s no secret among anyone who has witnessed Colorado Treasurer and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Walker Stapleton speak publicly that he is…well, public speaking is not Stapleton’s strongest asset by a long shot. One of the more memorable examples of Stapleton looking highly uncomfortable in front of an audience occurred last month when he announced that his ballot petitions were riddled with fraud:

Yikes! Stapleton needed some coaching that day, and as you can see he didn’t get it.

But truth be told, Stapleton’s awkward on-camera gesticulations have been cracking us up for years. Back in 2014 we took note of the striking resemblance between Stapleton’s body language in a campaign ad and that of famous Denver-area automobile hustler Dealin’ Doug Moreland:

A campaign ad is about as scripted a moment as one could ever expect, so we have to assume that somebody actually thought that gesture would inspire positive feelings about Stapleton. Or failing that, at least move the conversation further along to discovering what Walker needs to do to put you in that new car today!

But in Stapleton’s new campaign ad out this week, it does appear his image consultants have figured out a way to cope.

By making Walker Stapleton jam his hands into his pockets.

Is that really less awkward? Not so much! But fewer people will mistake him for that car salesman.