If you’re seeking the ultimate “no-makeup makeup” look, don’t look to TikTok or the pages of Vogue. Look to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Fox News.

Or to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on CNN.

Or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on the stump at a high school gymnasium.

As of this writing, all were being considered for the role of Vice President Harris’s running mate; these appearances, then, were not unlike auditions. On top of making the right quips, promoting the right talking points and dodging all manner of traps, they, crucially, also had to look the part.