Hillary’s cleavage?  John McCain’s “gay” sweater? 

I’m trying to sort out my feelings about two articles in major newspapers this week about the presidential candidates and their physical attributes, as well as the contents of their closets.  Initially, I thought that no one would include personal grooming habits in the calculation of whether a candidate should be President of the United States, but I could be wrong.

The Washington Post weighed in on Hillary’s cleavage this week and the New York Times tackled the weighty subject of the candidates’ wardrobe selections.  I had no idea there was a “gay” sweater look that John McCain was sporting!  Of course, just for the sake of fun, I can’t leave out John Edwards YouTube hair crisis as long as I’m talking about outward appearances.

If this is what campaign reporting is going to be about in the coming months, then it’s time for me to tune out.  But, on the other hand, there is yet another Democratic “debate” scheduled for this week, and you know that someone will ask about whether Hillary’s low V-neck wardrobe choice was simply a nod to the summer heat or whether she was trying to make a power statement — maybe someone was doubting that she really was a woman under those sensible suits she’s been sporting?

Discussing some of these things at dinner Saturday night, one friend, when he found out that I like John Edwards as a candidate, asked me if I had seen the YouTube video of Edwards’ hair grooming episode.  Of course I had read about it, but I hadn’t taken the time to click over to watch.  It just seemed to silly to spend my time on.  This friend said that as a result of that two minutes of candid pre-interview primping, he would not consider voting for Edwards and claimed that I would immediately reverse my stance if I saw it, saying, “No one who spends that much time on his hair would ever get my vote to be President of the United States.”

Well, I watched and I still like Edwards.  Presidential candidates are people too, complete with quirks and idiosyncracies.

But I’m now more worried than before.  I’m not casting my vote based on Miss America criteria.  But apparently many in the news media think that we do and at least one voter in my part of the world is doing just that. 

So if that’s the case, here’s my solution — replace the Electoral College with the Queer Eye guys — they’re the experts on all the fashion do’s and don’ts, and I bet they have some interesting things to say on the issues, as well!