Michele Bachmann - Political Hair

Is it me or does Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann look like she's gotten a bit of a makeover in recent months?

It's subtle, but her hair looks much smoother and more sedate than it has been in the past. Not that it was terribly wild and crazy before, but it did have more waves, more layers, more movement. And the makeover looks like it extends to eyebrows, eyelashes (the addition of), and makeup.

Why ask?

Well, unfortunately, all the aspects that women deal with on a daily basis are magnified to the nth degree when they're in the public eye.

No, men don't have to deal with decisions like whether to wear a dress or a pantsuit – in pubic anyway. Or what necklace or earrings to wear. (And let's face it, all these ministrations and accessories cost.)

And they consider themselves lucky if they even have hair, much less worrying about how to style it.

But for women, it's a different scenario. Hilary Clinton has often remarked on how her hairstyle got almost as much attention as her political policies.

And who remembers former Hewlett Packard CEO and California senate candidate Carly Fiorina taking a swipe at her opponent, Barbara Boxer's hairstyle.

But we know all this — it's been hashed and rehashed until it's just, well, hash.

Michele Bachmann's new look is rather nice – and dare we observe, a little Nancy Pelosian. Although her hairstyle has boldly been called the new "Rachel" — it's a bit hyperbolic since that hairstyle practically defined a decade. Bachmann's 'do hasn't had nearly those reverberations.

The 55-year-old Minnesota Representative actually put it up in recent Republican debates, making it look like she'd cut her hair short, a prospect that made some gasp.

But will toning down her hair help raise her poll numbers? Or is it just a split end — what do you think?

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