Dept. of more than we wanted to know

National Review, July 12, 2004

* DEPT. OF MORE THAN WE WANTED TO KNOW: John Kerry's wife described herself as "cheeky" and "sexy" in an interview with CBS News. You'd think that after 65 years in this world, Mrs. Kerry would have learned that "sexy" is not an adjective you use about yourself, it's an adjective you hope other people will use about you.

It is not, in any case, a word that belongs in the precincts of the White House, especially after the deplorable shenanigans of the late 1990s. We commend to Mrs. Kerry's attention, and for her emulation, the dignified reticence of the current First Lady. Among our many wishes for the current campaign season, in fact, is that presidential candidates and their wives abstain from embarrassing pseudo-intimacies about "sexiness" and allied qualities. We're electing a president, not a fertility god. Al Gore can be blamed for a lot of this nonsense, with those over-the-top displays of conjugal affection he went in for with Tipper back in the 2000 campaign. Gravitas, please, ladies and gentlemen--this is not Brazil.