Gravitas

[Elizabeth Gibbens]

Dear All:

This morning I awoke to a local radio call-in show, the theme of which was "Is it a shot in the arm for Al Gore or a shot in the foot for George Bush that he nominated Dick Cheney?"

The host said, "Everyone's talking about this gravitas, but I don't know, man."

Yesterday my father remarked that television reporters were all using the same word to describe Cheney. Is it because Cheney anchors the ticket? Are his ideas weighty? Are the reporters simply saying that Cheney brings the ticket "down to earth"? Or by suggesting that Cheney is a heavyweight, are they making the opposite assertion about George W?

My Random House Webster's says that "gravitas" was first attested in U.S. English in the 1920s.

Any thoughts on the meaning in this year's context?

Thanks,
Elizabeth Gibbens
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