I think MSP is vastly overrating the importance of the Flyertalk guy avatar & any influence it might have on voters.
As rwoman mentions, it is an avatar that has a tendency to disappear/re-appear on a regular basis. Also most FTers wouldn't know what it is, means, or that if you click on it it will take you to an interview (which in my case is a a few years ago, so info dated). I didn't even know that until recently.
Following MSP's reasoning, a TB member shouldn't have their title under their handle, nor a mod their title nor an ambassador their title nor the evangelist or legend their title for the entire 3-4 weeks of the election process, because any of those titles could influence voters. Heck, they should probably not post in any forum for the 3-4 weeks too because FTers might get to know them better if one posts in a more active forum than another.
If someone is going to take the time to vote, assuming they're not familiar with the candidates, they're probably going to vote based on what they read in the talkthevote/platform part & maybe the Q&A if they got to that part. Whenever I vote (before, during & after my term on TB), I went through each candidate's platform & based my vote on that. Avatars don't even appear in the 'talk the vote'.
The concern about the Flyertalk guy avatar is much ado about nothing IMO.
Cheers. Sharon