…is obviously that mustache.

I’m only partly kidding. I think we’ve discussed it around here before, but I think it’s fascinating that mustaches endure in America as much as they do despite the fact that almost no politicians have them and with the exception of Tom Selleck — and Burt Reynolds in the late seventies and early 80s — virtually no popular Hollywood icon wears one. Am I wrong for thinking that Bolton will be the highest-ranked government (or at least most prominent) official in years with a full-blown Marlboro man lip-warmer?

I’ve had beards and goatees (or van dycks) before. But I’ve never been a fan of the straight out ’stache. I think it works on some people. But I think that having all of that hair at, shall we say, a hygenic crossroad is just a bad idea.

Regardless, one obvious part of the equation is that mustaches have regional resonance. I’m not very up to speed on country music or Nascar, but the ’stache seems to be alive and well where such passtimes are thriving. Similarly, professional baseball seems to be another holdout. With all of the discussion of the south and west’s political ascendancy in American politics, it’s a bit surprising we haven’t seen more politicians with mustaches in recent years. Could it be that at the national level, facial hair is too much of a red-state identifier?

So here’s a question for you to discuss amongst yourselves (i.e. please don’t inundate me with email on it): Looking forward, in what order will we have: a female president, a Jewish president, a black president, a president with facial hair?