Can someone please explain to me the relevance of Mitt Romney’s spray tan? Yes; we get it. Romney is not exactly the best friend we’ve always wanted.

He is not a public figure that we all have posters of in our dorm rooms. He truly has no star quality and is not relatable. He makes too much money, is too robotic, and has too many houses. And for crying out loud, he got a spray tan! The man is a raving lunatic! But really, let’s move on. If we could all just take a moment to be selfish, which I know is hard due to our overwhelmingly charitable nature, we would see that Romney’s social awkwardness has no effect on any of us.

I mean, I’m all for poking fun at the easy target that Mitt has made himself. Jimmy Fallon’s “Rom Bomb Video Vlog Blog,” which satirizes Romney’s detachment from pop culture and modern technology, is definitely my favorite segment on Fallon’s late night television show.

There is a point, however, where I am able to separate Romney’s quirks and personality traits from his politics. I don’t really care what the guy acts like.

If he stands for upholding my personal freedoms and improving the economy, then no amount of spray tans are going to influence my decision. There is also a great deal of controversy over Romney’s treatment of animals, religious views and lack of verbal sympathy for the less fortunate. While these are all undesirable characteristics, I am still unable to see how any of his moral misgivings are going to affect American citizens.

I know that as perfectly upright beings, it is hard for any of us to understand that a person might have a few faults. But we cannot let our gossip dictate crucial political decisions. A great exercise for us to attempt to develop an understanding of Romney’s weirdness is to imagine what our middle-aged fathers would do if put in the spotlight. As intelligent as our fathers may be, I am certain that we have all experienced moments that make us wonder if they are from another planet.

Do you really not know how to turn on the TV? You can’t navigate iTunes? Lol stands for “laugh out loud,” not “lots of love.” It is very unlikely that men of Romney’s age know much about Snooki, because that may have given the poor guy a different perspective when advised to get a spray tan. The saddest part is that Romney has to be compared to Obama, which is just completely unfair on a shallow level. Obama is of a different breed. He is suave, handsome, has a beautiful family and is a great public speaker. As far as appearances go, Obama has no competition.

But this is a presidential election. Not The Bachelorette. The public has a duty to choose based on who they believe will best run the country, which is not something we can gather by questioning the depth of a person who would dare fake n’ bake.

Thrall is a sophomore majoring in journalism.