McKeon countered: "How can you criticize a couple for being affectionate toward each other? You have to be sort of a jaded person to go there."
The Clintons are a singular case, say observers. Land lauded Hillary Rodham Clinton -- who is now a New York senator and Democratic presidential contender -- for staying in her marriage, but Schwartz said the couple had to be careful how they related to each other in public. "I genuinely believe they like and respect each other," she said, "but the sexual part has been complex, to say the least. I would tell them to be warm and respectful, and don't pretend you are the love affair of the century."
Recently, the Washington Post's fashion critic, Robin Givhan, stirred the ire of the Hillary Clinton camp (and provided a peg for a fundraising pitch) when she noted that Clinton had worn a lower-than-usual neckline to make a Senate speech.
Though Clinton was hardly displaying what one would call cleavage, Givhan wrote that "there was the sense that you were catching a surreptitious glimpse at something private." The blogosphere and talk shows ate it up.
When Barack and Michelle Obama were on the cover of Ebony's February issue, their pose, while close, hewed to the traditional vision of a president and first lady. She stood behind the candidate, in the support role, her arms around his shoulders. His arms were at his side.
And yet Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) has become a sex symbol himself. In a much viewed Internet video, "I Got a Crush ... on Obama," a young woman -- "Obama Girl" -- sings about her unrequited love for the candidate. She poses in a bathing suit next to a widely published photograph of him frolicking in the surf during a Hawaiian vacation last Christmas.
"The video cuts both ways," said psychologist Drew Westen, who is advising Democrats on language and imagery. "On the one hand, it turns Obama into even more of a rock star than he is.
"But on another, it activates all the stereotypes of the sexualized black man who wants to be with white women, or in this case, a woman of ambiguous race, which the Republicans used against Harold Ford in Tennessee just a few months ago. It also has overtones of phone sex with Monica Lewinsky. I would be surprised if Michelle Obama enjoyed it."
(Ford, a black Democrat, lost his Senate race to Bob Corker, who is white. A Republican National Committee ad featured a white woman saying, "I met Harold at the Playboy party.... Harold, call me!")
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the campaign didn't have a response to the Obama Girl video. "Supporters show their support in all sorts of ways," he said. "But ultimately people are paying attention to the more important things in their lives, and what Obama has to say about issues like ending the war in Iraq."
Maybe. But in a world obsessed with appearance and sexuality, even presidential campaigns are offering something to sate our national appetite for the superficial. To paraphrase the old Jell-O campaign, there's always room for cleavage.
Politics experts often say that a candidate's spouse is a negligible factor in helping voters choose a president. But that may be changing, said Sherman. "A candidate's spouse has to be a positive enhancement. If not, at least do no harm. The way things are sliced today, 1% here, 2% there can make a big difference. One false move can destroy your whole campaign."
robin.abcarian@latimes.com
