With the elections just around the corner, some politicians have started resorting to diversionary tactics to garner attention for their campaign. Like so many other elections, irrelevant issues supplant real ones. In this election cycle, plastic surgery appears to be one of those issues.

Take for instance the case of Hillary Clinton. She was recently criticized by her republican opponent, John Spencer, for having “millions of dollars” worth of plastic surgery done.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Kerry have been similarly faulted. During the last presidential election, Kerry came under fire when it was suggested that he had had Botox. Likewise, during his 2003 gubernatorial campaign, Schwarzenegger was forced to deny rumors that he'd had “work” done.

Looks Do Matter

Since the advent of television, looks really do matter in politics. Just ask Richard M. Nixon, who lost the presidential race to the more handsome, debonair John F. Kennedy. In the year 2006, much hasn't changed -- except that looks count only when they're come by naturally.

This fact makes the political arena a kind-of modern day anomaly with regard to plastic surgery. The stigma surrounding plastic surgery disappeared when it became mainstream. With Americans more accepting than ever of cosmetic procedures, why is it that politicians who've had plastic surgery are still so stigmatized?

Extreme Measures

Politicians want to come across as youthful and healthy, but what they don't want to do is come across as vain. To avoid this, politicians who've had plastic surgery take extreme measures to hide it.

Board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Cap Lesesne, said he's had patients who were politicians and who had cosmetic procedures every six months instead of all at once, just to avoid arousing any suspicion.

“Politicians want to come away looking younger, better, healthier, but with something that does not say they have had plastic surgery,” he said.

There are those, however, who think it would be better for politicians to just admit to having had plastic surgery. “I think it's silly,” said New York plastic surgeon Dr. Z. Paul Lorenc.

Perhaps in the near future, Americans will come to accept plastic surgery even for politicians. Until then, America's political elite must keep their beauty secrets just that – secret.

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