Voters prefer pretty candidates????

So I just went to CNN's website, and the headline of the first article was "Study: Voters prefer pretty female candidates." The article says that women running for offices need to appear both competent and attractive, which the article uses as an excuse to justify all of Palin's spending on clothes. Then the article says men don't have to worry about being attractive as much, which the article uses an excuse to question why John Edwards needed his expensive haircut. 

This article is completely absurd!!! It so obviously is trying to make excuses for Palin for why she spent so much money on clothes, and then goes and slams Edwards for trying to make himself look better. Furthermore, what is the point of focusing on how the candidates look?? Isn't it more important to write articles focusing on what the candidates would do in office or what their policies will be instead of focusing on how the candidates look??