Male Politicians Get Into A Weight Debate

There's a difference between progress and equality, and we were just reminded of it by the New Jersey gubernatorial race. Progress would mean that a woman could run for President, and what would matter would be her stand on the issues... not her hair, the shape of her ankles, or her clothing choices. Then there's equality—where everyone who runs for office is subjected to the same superficial scrutiny. In New Jersey, that's been happening to the Republican candidate, Chris Christie.

The most popular political fashion trend since Jackie O's sunglasses.

The Democratic ad campaign, for his opponent Jon Corzine, has said Christie "threw his weight around"; there have been unflattering pictures of him with a face so huge it could devour Trenton; an editorial written by a Corzine supporter was entitled "Chris Christie's Diet for New Jersey"; and a cartoonist acknowledged that he depicted the Republican "like a fireplug sculpted of pudding." Not surprisingly, a study of voters about what words they most associate with the candidates found that more people regarded Christie as "fat" than as a "politician" or "prosecutor."

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