Esquire Writer: Democratic Women Too “Old Or Unattractive” To Defeat “Semi-Attractive” GOP Women

This morning, Tom Junod over at Esquire‘s political blog offered his take on why Republican voters have been more energized than Democratic ones: sex appeal. In an article titled “How D.C. Became Hollywood for Semi-Attractive People,” he argues that conservative women like Christine O’Donnell, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter and Michele Bachmann are both “crazy” and the new “standard of beauty,” while lib ladies are “either old or unattractive.” As he puts it, “the Democrats became the CNN to the Republican Fox, clueless in their competence, bewildered by their own best intentions.”

Or, in juicy Hollywood terms, the electorate is Brad Pitt, the GOP is Angelina Jolie, and the Democratic Party is Jennifer Aniston. But not even Jennifer Aniston:

So what can a party whose idea of star power is Al Franken and a Hollywood fundraiser hosted by Laurie David do to match a party whose ruthless insight is “control the cheerleader, control the world”?

Junod offers the Democrats his own advice, telling no-drama Obama to make

Hillary Clinton his 2012 running mate and “have a wall-banging affair with her.”

Ridiculous scandal aside, what point is Junod really trying to make here? Is “a party led by a man who clearly thinks too much before he speaks” doomed to lose to “a party led by a semi-sexy woman who will say anything”? Perhaps, but less so when you consider that the actual leaders of the GOP — RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader John Boehner — are either too goofy, too geriatric, or too neon to qualify as traditionally sexy. Meanwhile, his two primary examples, O’Donnell and Palin, aren’t currently elected officials, a fact that will likely remain true on November 3rd. To fairly qualify them as “entertainment,” as Junod does, would be to compare them to Rachel Maddow, Oprah Winfrey (who campaigned for Obama), Ellen DeGeneres, and Arianna Huffington, all of whom can claim their own brands of attraction.

Besides, Tea Party fervor began independently of O’Donnell and won’t disappear if she loses in November, especially if Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh (both of whom are more influential than O’Donnell) continue to keep conservatives…hot, so to speak.