Does size matter?

Mr. Daniels is officially listed as 5-foot-7.

What kind of superficial knucklehead, you might ask, would base the solemn vote for president on such a meaningless factor as height?

The American voter, perhaps. More often than not, presidential contests go to the taller candidate. George H. W. Bush towered over Michael Dukakis, and Bill Clinton trounced Bob Dole.

Jay Mathews, a Washington Post journalist, has explored the phenomenon for more than 20 years in playful essays about what, in 2008, he called, “a bone-deep bias that has poisoned our presidential politics and rendered our media’s campaign analysis largely irrelevant.” In only 4 of the last 20 presidential contests, he noted in that 2008 article, has the shorter candidate won. So now it’s 21.