Ned Lamont supporters have frequently utilized Joe Lieberman's public displays of
affection with George W. Bush as a sign of him being out of touch with the Democratic Party. Similarly, John McCain has received scorn for the semi-regularity with which he
humps the President's leg. Consider these events along with the recent man-boy love between Vladimir Putin and a young,
kittenish lad, and of course, President Clinton's blowjob problems (no link to a picture for this one), which may have begun privately, but ended quite publicly. One conclusion presents itself: public politics should be one of those "no-touching" sots of activities, just like Catholic school dances, women's lacrosse, and the dreaded Portuguese Man-O-War.
Lieberman should have learned from history. More below.
Other, less well-known PDA have had major ramifications in politics. A few of the examples:
An early 1960s spin-the-bottle game in which Nikita Krushchev claimed that John F. Kennedy's bottle spin pointed at him, but JFK locked lips with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan instead, began the buildup of tension that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Kennedy also played a minor role in the Bentsen-Quayle debate, during which Lloyd Bentsen said to Dan Quayle, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." While Bentsen was largely referring to Quayle's political character, his friends also claim he held a grudge against Quayle after a "Seven minutes in heaven" session during which Bentsen claimed Quayle played "Way too much grabass." Bentsed freuquently cited Kennedy as the kind of gentleman you could trust, even during closet makeout sessions.
While tension between the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists created the historical setting for the The Burr-Hamilton duel of 1804, the duel's immediate cause was a handshake between President Jefferson and Hamilton that Burr described as "overly affectionate". On his deathbed, Hamilton later described the physical contact as "totally worth it," saying Jefferson's was "the kind of firm grip that makes you all wet and quivery inside."
While not literal hugs or kisses, former Senator Strom Thurmond was given a bag of Hershey's Hugs & Kisses, which are chocolate "Hershey's Kisses hugged by white chocolate." Believing that the bag was a political statement from Hershey's, and that integration had come so far as to be represented in candy form, Thurmond died.