(Newser)
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Forget everything you've heard about Paul Ryan's good looks: He is officially not that handsome, according to a Harvard study. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is quite the looker, the National Journal reports. In the study, undergraduates were flashed images of politicians for a single second each. Romney ended up in the 99th percentile, Washington Monthly reports—and the students made their judgment in 2007, when Romney wasn't so well-known, thus removing political bias, the researchers say.
The study rated just how hot the 728 candidates running for Senate or governor between 1994 and 2006 were, which means stats are available on a few other big names: Romney's score bests that of Sarah Palin, who scored in the also-very-high 95th percentile. Biden trailed well behind, in the 62nd percentile. (Obama was considered too big a name in 2007, so he wasn't included.) And while the study used a different scale for the House, Paul Ryan was ranked: He scored in the 67th percentile among 2004 House candidates. The best-looking politician? Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
