Hairgate: Carly Fiorina vs. Barbara Boxer

Carly Fiorina (trim, feathered), ex-HP honcho and Republican senate nominee in California, called her opponent, Barbara Boxer's (bleached, wild) style "so yesterday." This came not long after a New York Times Magazine piece revealed that Fiorina's own hairdo — uncharacteristically spiky last year thanks to a battle with breast cancer — had caused conservative supporters to balk at her "left-wing radical" look.

When Greta van Susteren (dull blonde, frizzy) quizzed Fiorina about her comments — made into a mike she didn't know was on as she prepped for a TV interview in Sacramento — she noted her cancer hair and moved on, a perfectly deft political duck masking the reality that life remains a beauty contest in this country, and even the smartest, most accomplished women are reduced to Tri-Delts when they're fighting for the title.

Much ink has been spilled over female politicians' hairdo choices. Remember when Hillary Clinton (wheaten, immaculate) dropped the headband? Some say you can predict fluctuations in the stock market by Nancy Pelosi's (blown out, firm) bouncing between crops and bobs. But for our money, the pol with the best 'do of all time is the inimitable, frozen d.a.-sporting Ronald Reagan.