Fashion statement

Joan Rivers would be proud.\nThere are lots of reasons Americans decide to vote one way or the other on Election Day. Sometimes it’s the candidates’ platforms, and sometimes it’s party loyalty. But no political preference is ever decided these days without the consideration of one last integral factor: the candidates’ fashion sense. \nJust consider all the crap Hillary Clinton got when she revealed to the public that yes, she does in fact have cleavage, at a recent session of the Senate. But beyond just her overt femininity, she may have something else working against her: her “cackle.” Gaining news coverage across the country, her distinctive laugh has apparently rubbed many voters and commentators the wrong way. \nWe’re not sure whether we’re just missing something, but shouldn’t a candidate for leader of the free world be judged on something a bit more substantive than that?\nThe latest victim in this era of misplaced judgment is Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton’s opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination. In an Oct. 4 television interview, a reporter noticed the presidential hopeful wasn’t wearing one of the American flag lapel pins that have become the customary get-up for government agents since the 9/11 attacks. He then asked the Senator, “Is this a fashion statement?” to which Obama responded that lapel pins are not an acceptable substitute for patriotism. After the interview, he went on to say that people should be “less concerned about what you’re wearing on your lapel than what’s in your heart.”\nHowever, following this incident, Obama has become the victim of widespread accusations that he is “un-American.” As University of Nevada blogger Annie Flanz noticed, “Just throw on a blue suit, red tie and a flag lapel pin and you’re a man in power.” Unfortunately, Obama decided to actually focus on the issues (go figure!), and that may have been his ultimate downfall. \nHere at the Indiana Daily Student, we are more than a little concerned that voters are writing candidates off not because of their political or ideological persuasions, but because they wake up in the morning and decide not to put on their lapel pins. \nBorn in America, for the most part raised in America and having served America as both an Illinois state and U.S. Senator, Obama is as American as apple pie. (Although the Supreme Court case concerning the citizenship of apple pie is still pending, we remain fairly confident that if it did have legal standing, it would certainly be considered a U.S. citizen.) \nBut of course, the American people are always right. It’s obvious that Obama is un-American. Not only did he not wear his lapel pin, but his name is “Barack,” not George, James, John or William – the common presidential standards. Yup, he’s definitely a foreigner at heart. \nMaybe we’re not the biggest fans of Clinton’s cackle, and maybe Obama should have had the common sense to know that the American public expects a visible display of patriotism from their leaders. Still, we are sticking to our guns; there is simply no excuse for voting with your fashion sense.