In a very unscientific study the Journal de Montréal asked who is the sexiest party leader?

The paper recruited three judges (a comedian, a TV host, and a seduction coach) who were asked very pertinent questions relating to this campaign such as:

• Who would you invite for last call?
• Who would you introduce to your mother?
• Who would you keep as a lover?

The winner: Jack Layton. He got a score of six out of 10.

Stéphane Dion and Stephen Harper tied at four out of 10.

Dion gets points because he is eager to please. Harper is the good boy mother would like, and Layton has "drive."

But there is a serious side, too. The paper asked several political scientists the importance of sex appeal in a campaign. The first obvious observation is that none of our leaders comes close to an Obama or a Palin when it comes to seducing voters.

Christian Dufour, professsor at ENAP, says "politics is not an intellectual game. It's a reflection of life, seduction is part of power. Some would say that's unfortunate, but it is."

But seduction can be a double edged sword says Dufour — just look at Maxime Bernier. Seduction didn't help him in the end, now we question his intelligence.

— Emmanuel Marchand