Messaging, strategic advertising and a few ideas about how to improve the country can help somebody get elected. But Esquire got down to what really matters Tuesday when the men’s fashion magazine released its list of this year’s best- and worst-dressed candidates on the campaign trail.

Esquire notes that nobody might ever look as good on the trail as President Barack Obama, considering he’s “perhaps the best-dressed president in a generation.” But there are a few political style mavens. Topping the list is Jimmy McMillan, the flashy New York gubernatorial candidate representing the “Rent Is Too Damn High” party. He shot to fame last week for his charismatic performance at the gubernatorial debate.

“The temperature’s too damn hot for gloves — at least inside, at a debate, even you steal the show. And the tie — that’s too damn loose,” Esquire notes. “But the martial-arts instructor turned activist certainly has flair, and half of great style is confidence.”

Other fashionistas: Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio (R), Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio Jr. (D), California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown (D) and Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway (D).

The, er, distinction of being among the worst-dressed candidates goes to Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller (R), Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul (R), Vermont third-party gubernatorial candidate Dennis Steele, Alabama gubernatorial candidate Ron Sparks (D), Pennsylvania Senate candidate Pat Toomey (R) and Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Mike McWherter (D).

Kids Love Murkowski

Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s write-in campaign for a seat in the Senate just got a whole lot cuter.

A video surfaced this week on YouTube featuring two dancing children urging voters to write the Alaska Republican’s name on the ballot next week.

The video, set to the Jackson 5’s hit “ABC,” features two blond tykes using their bodies — and their puppy — to spell out Murkowski’s full name. The video urges voters to “Write it in! Fill it in!”

The video was posted by mattdodd3030. No word on the story behind the creator beyond his being a Murkowski fan.

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