The cereals are made by a couch-surfing service who wants hosts to serve them as a get-out-the-vote initiative. We’re not sure who’s being swayed by breakfast, but we’ll just come out and say it: we’ll vote for whichever one’s frosted.

We’ve given a lot of attention to the presidential candidates’ clothes, but maybe we should have been paying more attention to their bodies…

The New York Times has a graphic of the heights and ages of the presidential candidates for the last 29 elections. Apparently when there was a significant difference, height won out 17 out of 23 times, and girth won out 18 out of 24 times. It goes a long way towards explaining the Taft presidency, but it may have more to do with sartorial details than the Times realizes. We don’t remember the last president big enough to bust out the double-breasted suit, but we can’t think of an outfit more presidential than that.

Of course, Obama’s just a hair under 6’2”, more than half a foot taller than McCain, which might explain some of the recent poll numbers.

We’ve already picked out our favorite Obama tee, but a real bipartisan approach means you need to reach past the Threadless crowd to the big-belt-buckle-lovers down south. Which is where this comes in, we assume…

Getty Images

Last night’s debate offered one more chronicle of the political world’s baby steps towards stylish behavior. No, we’re not talking about Palin’s winks or Biden’s party-appropriate powder blue tie.

We’re talking about those chalk stripes.

Biden risked looking like a banker—a particularly dangerous move these days—and did the sartorial thing. We knew he was a well-dressed gentleman, but we’re impressed he had the clout to pull this one off. What’s next, wearing gray? Obama may be the first candidate who’s one-button suit material, and it’s nice to know he’s got someone adventurous to back him up.

Based on this picture, it looks like someone else is taking notice too.

Vano Shlamov/Agence-France Presse, Getty Images

As part of Kempt’s ongoing election coverage, we thought we’d take a closer look at the older, less-Alaskan part of tonight’s Vice Presidential festivities: Joe Biden.

The best recommendation of the man comes from this photo, a snap from his most recent Georgian trip. Not only does he pull off the navy-polo-on-navy-sport-coat look that’s a staple of most over-60 wardrobes and find time for a well-folded pocket square, but he manages to out-aviator the actual aviators.

That’s what we call leadership experience.

The recent presidential debate has been analyzed to death, but one enormous sartorial story went unreported. At this point, politicians’ only remaining outlet for personal style is their ties, but things can still get complicated, as they did Friday night.

In past years, the democratic candidate has worn a blue tie, while the Republican candidate wears a red, but this always made Bush come off as more dynamic and, well…visible.

This year, Obama broke the party line by choosing a patterned purple number, putting McCain in a potentially awkward position. He couldn’t stay with red or switch to blue without risking an awkward “twins” remark from moderator Jim Lehrer. Cornered, McCain took yet another stylistic chance and opted with a pencil-stripe tie, the first non-solid-color tie seen in American politics since the dandified days of Herbert Hoover.

A maverick indeed.

There aren’t many trustworthy faces left on television, and it looks like there is now one less.

One of the few newsmen on TV who managed to be trustworthy, genuinely informative and a true Washington insider, Russert handled himself with style and class through a number of trying situations, most recently the Judith Miller scandal. A consummate professional, he projected dignity and calm even when his surroundings suggested the opposite.

A more thorough obit can be found here.

In the old days, the drugs-and-whores memoir was a respected literary event. (I’m looking at you, McInerney.) But these days, talking too loudly about your days as a male escort is still enough to get your visa revoked.

Author of the well titled Dandy in the Underworld, Sebastian Horsley planned to have a U.S. book tour this month, but instead he got a charming eight-hour conversation with customs officials and an unceremonious flight back home. Apparently all that talk about opium and amphetamines was enough to invalidate Horsley’s travel waiver, leaving HarperCollins holding the bag. (You’d think Rupert could have pulled some strings…)

The further travails of Mr. Horsley»

Well, they certainly took their time.

It looks like our favorite couple has finally tied the knot, after a full month and a half of courtship. The ceremony took place Saturday at the Elysee palace, in the presence of twenty close friends, family members and adoring subjects. Sarkozy is the first sitting president ever to wed, but with his dashing sense of dress, he seems well-equipped to smooth over any difficulties.

Of course, we’re hardly surprised the couple finally made things official »

Carla Bruni, our favorite presidential paramour, is making headlines for appearing in the Spanish men’s magazine DT clothed only in a wedding ring. (The full pic is here.) Does this confirm rumors that she’s tied the knot with the well-attired fiscal conservative? Probably not, since the pictures in question could have been taken as early as August, and are certainly from before the couple went public in December. All we can say for sure is that for a 40-year-old woman, she certainly keeps in shape.

The couple’s whirlwind romance (with accompanying media waltz) is now entering its sixth week »

The latest news from the front regarding the Brad and Angelina of the international set has it that they may have already tied the knot. French daily L’Est Republicain is quoting a reliable source close to someone who claims to have attended our boy Nic’s secret nuptials last week at the Elysée palace. Apparently he sealed the deal with supermodel Carla Bruni after presenting her with a $30,000 white gold Dior ring.

Sarkozy’s office has issued a terse “no comment”»

Harper’s Bazaar

The mixed returns from the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary have put all the candidates at high alert as their see-saw returns have force them to go on the offensive, pointing out each other’s differences and shortcomings. Strangely, the frontrunners—no matter their location along the political spectrum have one thing in common: Nadja Auermann. Who’da thunk it?

The Politics of Fashion—Harper’s Bazaar (Hosted on Livejournal)

Our boy Nic sure is one fast mover. But then we guess when you’re president of France there’s no time to fuck around. Just two short weeks after we first told you that the Nicster was shacking up with supermodel Carla Bruni, one of the world’s most beautiful women and a talented singer to boot, weekly paper Le Journal De Dimanche is reporting that the couple plans to marry early next month.

More on the Nicster and his soon-to-be better half »

The Man in White may have been robbed of his rightful place on GQ’s “50 Most Stylish Men of the Past 50 Years” list, but his new book deal will buy a lot of consolation trips to the tailor. Tom Wolfe just pocketed nearly $7 mil in advance money for his next novel, Back to Blood, about “class, family, wealth, race, crime, sex, corruption, and ambition in Miami, the city where America’s future has arrived first.”

It’s quite a departure from his last book »

Kempt Kudos to our boy Nicolas Sarkozy, the fashion-savvy President of France who one-upped George Bush during a black-tie affair at the White House last month.

Sarkozy, who split from his wife a while back, was spotted out on the town with supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni (pictured) the other night in Paris—thereby

proving the ZZ Top coinage (and Sartorial Brotherhood credo) “Every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp-dressed man.”

Continue reading about Bruni and the Nicster »

After a close shave with obsolescence, things are looking up for Savile Row. Ozwald Boateng’s new 6,800-sq.ft. store opening there next month heralds the beginning of what many hope will be a new era for the beleaguered “bespoke couturiers,” who have banded together with local government and landlords to keep the spiritual home of British tailoring alive, Time magazine reports.

Read more about the grand plan…

With the once almighty dollar laid low, America’s leaders should be looking to bolster the nation’s standing with the international community wherever possible. But during last week’s visit to Washington by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, we were bested once again by a pesky Euro…