Ethan Miller via Getty Images This is a pretty half-hearted smile, Sen. Brown. Do better.

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HuffPost asked Brown’s colleagues if they privately worried he wasn’t likable enough and would face scrutiny over his voice and appearance as a presidential candidate, just as Clinton did. Shockingly, they did not. “I don’t think he has a likability problem at all,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Asked if he should probably smile more, she walked away in a huff. “Oh, please.” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said of course Brown is likable enough to be president ― and then made fun of his clothes, a statement that could have done significant damage to Brown if he were running for president. “I don’t think Sherrod has ever even seen a copy of GQ, let alone subscribed to it,” he said. “I like Sherrod a lot,” added Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “There are so many candidates that whatever their traits are that people are looking for, they’ll have their choice.” What about his disheveled clothes, though? “Hey, look at Bernie Sanders,” Hirono said. His scratchy voice? “There’s nothing he can do about that,” she said. Hmm. Surely Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Clinton’s running mate in 2016, would have these concerns about Brown’s prospects. He suggested something profound: male presidential candidates don’t face anywhere near the same level of scrutiny over their voices and clothes as female presidential candidates. “It’s all a double standard,” said Kaine. “The single most overriding memory for me from 2016 is the gross double standard applied to Clinton because she was a woman. Everything from the FBI’s treatment of their two investigations [of Clinton and of Trump] to her insensitivity to her voice, her health, the way she dressed. It’s no accident we’ve never had a woman president.” Asked if he thinks Brown smiles enough though, Kaine paused. “I’ve never thought about that question.”

I don’t think Sherrod has ever even seen a copy of GQ, let alone subscribed to it. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)