Is there any hidden meaning in “haircuts” in the analogy of Presidential election as “usual vague contest between competing slogans and haircuts”?

Time magazine introduced Paul Ryan as a very likely presidential runner up in the article titled “Paul Ryan: The Prophet” as early as in its December 14, 2011 issue, and I was interested in the following line of the article:

If 2012 turns out to be a clear choice between very different answers to a genuinely important question – instead of the usual vague contest between competing slogans and haircuts — give the credit to Ryan.

Does haircuts simply mean “looks” or “character” (e.g. masculineness symbolized by GI cut) of the candidates in the above sentence, or it has meanings more than that?

If haircuts simply means “looks” or “character”, can I use haircut and hairstyle as an alternative to one’s appearance and character, for example, “He/she has a good (bad) haircut/hair dressing”, for an attractive (unattractive) person?

Solution 1:

Use of haircut in this passage is an instance of metonymy, in which the single term haircut is used to stand for many aspects of appearance, including clothes, grooming, and mannerisms. While it represents appearance, I don't see it as representing character at all.

Occasionally one sees elections referred to as "beauty contests" or as "popularity contests", both referring to a tendency of voters to be strongly influenced by how candidates look, for example in televised appearances.

Regarding the comment by Charles that haircut is not a well-understood term for "looks" or "appearance", that's difficult to gauge. Some terms like "big hair", "newscaster hair", "bad hair day", and "news anchor hair" are widely-used in the US, and news stories about John Edwards' $400 haircut or about Bill Clinton's $200 haircut at LAX aboard Air Force 1 were legion a few years ago. But I agree that trying to summarize someone's appearance via "great haircut" or the like probably will lead to misunderstanding. It is less likely to be misunderstood if, being asked to speak in favor of a candidate, you merely mention their great haircut; almost everybody will understand that that is sarcasm.

Solution 2:

I think the words you have italicized in your quote are basically a reference to how some voters, rather than doing careful research about where the candidates stand on important issues, are instead influenced by short sound bytes, charisma or charm, and good looks.

So, does ‘haircuts’ simply mean ‘looks’ or ‘character’? I say this kind of tongue-in-cheek, but I think you're giving the American voter too much credit by throwing the word ‘character’ in there.