The role made a wave in options about the candidates because Kennedy was cool calm an collected meanwhile his opponent was sweating and this made people feel as though they could trust Kennedy with the country.
You could argue that this is an indication of Walter Cunningham's severe poverty. He is very poor, and poor people did not have access to sweets or treats such as molasses syrup, so when he was offered it he deemed it appropriate to drench his entire lunch in it.