Their looks for fall 2008

Barack Obama is the only presidential candidate selling ribbed baby-doll T-shirts. John Edwards and Mitt Romney...

Barack Obama is the only presidential candidate selling ribbed baby-doll T-shirts. John Edwards and Mitt Romney are the sole contenders offering 8220;support the troops8221; stickers. Edwards is the one candidate hawking a button with a photograph of his spouse. Only Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd and Edwards have gay-friendly rainbow gear.

Tradition dictates that while selling themselves as potential presidents, candidates must also sell T-shirts, pins and gimme hats. The road to the White House is whipstitched with patriotic hues and 8220;Made in the USA8221; labels.

But a closer inspection of the candidates8217; wares, as sold at their official online stores, offers the prospect of a peek into their characters and hoped-for constituencies. To varying degrees, most of the 16 would-becommanders in chief are hucksters, selling souvenirs to finance and promote their campaigns. The race to offer the most extensive, fashion-conscious and youthful gear is being won by Obama and Rudolph W Giuliani.

Does it say something about Obama8217;s perceived hunkiness and desire to excite the youth vote that he offers an extensive line of sexy women8217;s T8217;s?

Justin Hemminger, the political program coordinator for Tigereye Design, which supplies the promotional gear for the Obama campaign, said that much of what is for sale points to the groups a candidate hopes to win over. 8220;They want to appeal to women, so we8217;ve got 25 to 30 women8217;s-cut shirts,8221; he said. 8220;They want to appeal to younger voters, too, so there8217;s a lot of student specials and themes that are appealing to younger voters.8221;

There are 8220;ObamaMAMA8221; T-shirts 20.08; spaghetti-strap tank tops 15 to 17; snug shirts in pastel colors decorated with the Men8217;s Vogue-posing senator8217;s face 20.08 to 25; 8220;Property of Students for Barack Obama8221; T-shirts in pink, gray and white 10; 8220;Barack the Vote8221; shirts 25, and shirts that read 8220;Got Hope?8221; 20.08 to 25. Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are the only candidates selling merchandise for 20.08.

Don8217;t fret if you aren8217;t Italian-American. You may still fall into one of the many other special-interest categories for which Giuliani has gear: Students for Rudy, Veterans for Rudy, Women for Rudy, Sportsmen for Rudy and the succinct, yet all-encompassing, Viva Rudy.