Summary
COULD the outcome of the US election turn on something seemingly so trivial as big hair? John Kerry, the craggy Democratic presidential contender, has repeatedly joked that, in the contest against the grumpy old men, George Bush and Dick Cheney, he and his young running-mate, John Edwards, have "better hair". Maybe he wasn't joking. Kerry even trumpeted Edwards' selection as People magazine's sexiest politician - you can't imagine Tony Blair taking similar interest in Gordon Brown, who this week was hailed as Britain's sexiest politician.
The fixation with Edwards' good looks isn't just a media phenomenon, though the press has gone to town on them. True, the Wall Street Journal praises "his dazzling smile". "His hair is a beautiful shade of chocolate brown with honey-coloured highlights," simpered the Washington Post. "Each tooth is an ivory treasure," claims the Slate news website. But even Edwards' rattled Republican opponents refer to him as "the Breck girl", after America's most famous shampoo ads.See the full content of this document
Extract
Why Good Teeth and Hair Matter in Race for the White House
But politicians' looks have always mattered - they have become a shorthand to capturing someone's character. Even the least vain of us instinctively know this. When the crucial presidential election of 1860, which led ultimately to the Civil War, was only weeks away, Abraham Lincoln received a letter from an 11-year-old ...
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