Sex sells in the presidential race

Very interesting.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/printer_080707WB.shtml

The Los Angeles Times
Sunday 05 August 2007
In '08 Race, a Little Leg May Go a Long Way
By Robin Abcarian

Sex, they say, sells. Aspiring presidential couples are bringing that notion to the fore (spontaneously or not).

In March, an aspiring Republican presidential couple - Rudolph W. and Judith Nathan Giuliani - appeared in a fashion layout in Harper's Bazaar that accompanied an interview with Mrs. Giuliani. The most striking thing about the feature, a coming-out of sorts for Judith Giuliani, was their pose: sitting on the arm of her husband's chair, eyes closed, she tipped her head down, caressed his face and planted a kiss that looked like a precursor to something steamier.
Link to photo: http://gothamist.com/2007/02/06/the_rudy_and_ju.php
[. . .]
In this long, hot campaign season, intimations of sexuality are sprouting like wildflowers along the road to the White House. Not that the commingling of sex and politics is anything new, but for what seems to be the first time in memory, voters are being confronted with questions that don't usually break the surface: Just how sexy is a first lady allowed to be? And what constitutes an appropriate display of affection between candidates and their spouses?

With a nominating field full of older men and younger wives, experts say that a youthful, even sexy wife offers a none-too-subtle message about the vitality of the candidate.