THE INEVITABLE EXCEPTION: As a quick follow-up to Ann's post, I note one case where fashion trivia about a male candidate was an issue: the endless clown show surrounding Al Gore and "earth tones." (There were some additional rings in the circus, such as Chris Matthews babbling about Gore's deeply significant choice to wear three-button suits: "Is there some hidden Freudian deal here or what? I don�t know, I mean, Navy guys used to have buttons on their pants. I don�t know what it means.") Since this idiocy allowed for plenty of misogynist attacks on Naomi Wolf, however, it's truly the exception that proves Ann's rule. --Scott Lemieux