PSP Political Star Of The Year Award, 2012!

(Uncredited photo via)

You might be surprised by my choice, but it's fabulous Josh Mandel of Ohio! My obsession with Mandel began earlier this year, when every time I would stumble across a photo of him, I'd recoil instinctively, only to return, fascinated, to study his blatantly wicked countenance. Eventually I snapped out of a trance induced by his bizarre hairline long enough to actually read about him, and learned that he is exactly the kind of smirky, terrible, frat-boy conservative he appears to be.  It's as if one of the villains from Animal House were running for senate.

And, yes, his hair is deeply weird and maybe even psychotic, and it goes from thrilling new style to thrilling new style. Buzzed here, pomaded there... what will Josh do with his difficult hair next? It's exciting.

Here's another picture:

(Photo: ohio.gov)

Look, I know it seems like I carp on people's appearance a lot, but I generally keep it to criticism of their choices and habits, like clothing and hairdos and hand gestures, rather than of innate physical characteristics over which they have no control. I don't think, for instance, that I've ever made fun of a politician for being "fat." I guess my two major infractions would be my obsession with Robert Gates adorable teensiness and Condi's occasional resemblance to a Klingon.

That said, isn't Josh Mandel one of the most wonderfully scary and creepy Republican villains you've ever seen? He reminds me of an evil ventriloquist dummy from a horror movie, or a Brooks Brothers mannequin from the 1950s come chillingly to life:

(Photo: Rollcall)

It's almost (Almost! Not really! Just kidding!) too bad that Mandel is almost certainly going to lose against Sherrod Brown. Even his hometown paper called him the "cartoon candidate." How can I not love him? And how can you not love that this ghastly specter is the GOP's nightmare version of youthfulness?

So it's sad, because my Josh Mandel obsession is cresting just as he's about to vanish from the national stage. Something tells me, though, that there's a lot more Josh Mandels whence this one came.