Robin Givhan Dissects McCain's Gay Sweaters

(AP Photo, 04-25-07)

Sometimes Robin bugs me, but sometimes I want to give her a big kiss, like today! Givhan's been doing sartorial roundups of all the major candidates as part of the Washington Post's revolving door of profiles, and today it was McCain's turn. And it isn't pretty:

Sweaters -- crew-necks and cardigans -- have warm and kindly connotations. Public figures, male ones at any rate, use them to soften their public image or to appear more lovable or paternal. Dan Rather wore sweaters on the air during his anchorman days when he was trying to be cuddly. Jimmy Carter was a sweater man. Occasionally, Captain Kangaroo wore a cardigan.

Privately, McCain very well may be sweet and fuzzy. But that is not the impression he gives in public. During a recent debate, his head looked as though it just might explode in anger during a brawl with Mitt Romney over waterboarding. Cranial eruptions and crew-neck sweaters don't go together.

McCain has a dress-shirt problem compounding the sweater conundrum. His collars always appear a smidge too small. They fit so snugly that they give the impression that his head is caught in a vise. Add the layer of a sweater and McCain looks as if he is engaged in a wrestling match with his attire.

[...]There is an uncomfortable Peter Pan quality to McCain's clothing, a sense that he hasn't quite moved beyond the affectations -- as well as the collar size -- of his youth. Is there Winnie the Pooh embroidered on those sweaters? Is his name scribbled on the label in Magic Marker?

I don't think Ms. Givhan likes Mr. McCain's gay sweaters, and she even links them to the Peter Pan Conspiracy! Yikes! It's a good thing a McCain presidency is in Never-Everland, indeed.