The Presidency as Dating Game

In her New York Times columns, Maureen Dowd has two recurring themes--the White House and the romantic woes of modern women.

Today she brings all the clichés about both together in relating Hillary Clinton's campaign to a new study showing the same old stereotypes: Men like women who are smart and successful, but not more so than themselves, and preferably with hour-glass figures (because, another "scientific" study suggests, "hips plumped up by omega-3 fatty acids could mean smarter women bearing smarter kids.")

So women still have to play down their smarts and success "to bolster the egos of the men they date.”

In the Clinton-era movie, "The American President," which led to the TV series, "West Wing," a widower in the Oval Office falls hard for a sexy, super-smart lobbyist and finds his approval ratings in free fall as a result. But love conquers all when he comes to his senses and gets macho over saving the environment and outlawing hand guns.

All good clean fun, but Hillary Clinton is not running for calendar girl or movie star so it might be a good idea to stow all the talk about dating, pants suits and cleavage for a while to concentrate on slightly more relevant issues, like present and future wars, the economy, health care and such.

If Ms. Dowd thinks Hillary is pushy and Barack is a stud, maybe she should tell it to her diary, not the rest of us.