Palin's glamour poses tricky questions

By Ross Colvin - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a former beauty queen running to be the United States' next vice president, challenges the old saying, "Washington is Hollywood for ugly people."

The Republican's looks have grabbed arguably even more attention than her conservative political views. When he met her, Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, called Palin gorgeous, and readers of the men's magazine Maxim voted her one of the planet's sexiest politicians.

Good-looking, cute, even "hot" -- these are just some adjectives used to describe Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, even as some commentators and party insiders question her competence to serve as president-in-waiting and others call the obsession with her appearance sexism.

McCain surprised many by picking Palin, a self-described moose-hunting "hockey mom" largely unknown on the national political scene, as his No. 2 in late August, but she proved hugely popular in the first few weeks following her nomination and lifted the Republican campaign out of the doldrums.

"She indeed brought a fresh face into the Republican campaign and stole a lot of Barack Obama's freshness for a critical couple of weeks. I'm sure it has not hurt her that that fresh face is a pretty face," said pollster John Zogby.

The good looks of Obama, McCain's Democratic rival for the presidency, have also garnered some media attention, but it has paled in comparison to the attention given Palin's.

The skewed coverage has led to charges of sexism from Palin supporters and others who say it belittles her candidacy. It has also put the spotlight on this question: How much do looks help win elections?

"Obviously Jack Kennedy trumped on the way he looked," Zogby said. "On the other hand Lyndon Johnson, a gangly Texan, ran against a strikingly handsome Barry Goldwater (and won). Jack Kennedy, Bill Clinton, the looks certainly worked for them ... but looks alone are not going to carry the day for you."

'HOTTEST' GOVERNOR, COLDEST STATE

Palin's appearance has made for some tricky campaigning.

McCain's campaign released an attack ad in September accusing the Democrats of sexism after Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, joked that one key difference between himself and Palin was that she was good-looking.

Days earlier, however, delegates from Palin's home state of Alaska turned up at the Republican convention proudly sporting badges announcing that they had the "hottest" governor from the coldest state.

Palin referred to the attention her looks garner in an interview with Vogue magazine, before her nomination.

"I wish they'd stick with the issues instead of discussing my black go-go boots. A reporter once asked me about it ... and I assured him I was trying to be as frumpy as I could by wearing my hair on top of my head and these schoolmarm glasses," she said.

So, is the attention to her wardrobe and physical appearance legitimate?