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Those of us who always had to sit in the front row during class picture time, or who were picked last for basketball, can relate to the problem vertically challenged candidates face in politics.

After all, who wants to look tiny next to an opponent?

One thing you didn't see at Friday night's debate between John McCain and Barack Obama was a riser behind the podium to make McCain (5'9") look as tall as Obama (6'1").

But the Arizona senator did use one back during his first bid for the U.S. Senate in 1986, when he ran against Demo-crat Richard Kimball, who was significantly over 6 feet tall.

His campaign feared McCain would look embarrassingly short during a Phoenix debate, so they agreed to the riser.

But the plan backfired when, in response to an argument over whether McCain had voted for a weapons system while in the U.S. House, Kimball declared: "You come in here and you treat people for suckers. You stand on a soapbox to make yourself appear to look taller."

Originally this year, the Commission on Presidential Debates had looked at actually seating the candidates during two of the debates, with one town hall setting — wiping away any height advantage for Obama. But instead, Friday's event was staged with podiums.

Hillary Clinton had to endure the height issue in debate after debate during the Democratic nomination fight. The 5'8" former first lady was often sandwiched between Obama and 6-foot-tall John Edwards.

President Bush faced a similar challenge against John Kerry in 2004. Even though Bush is nearly 6 feet tall, Kerry towered above at 6'5".

The visual aided Kerry since the debates were broadcast with a split screen. Bush ended up having a lot more "headroom" than Kerry.

Of course, Bush went on to win that race — but history wasn't on his side and it's certainly not on McCain's either.

Believe it or not, there's something called the Presidential Height Index, which finds that since the rise of television, the taller candidate has won in almost every U.S. election.

Aside from Bush's 2004 win, there are a few exceptions: Richard Nixon was shorter than George McGovern; Jimmy Carter was dwarfed by Gerald Ford in 1976; and Bush was about an inch shorter than Al Gore.

But then again, the accuracy of the index may vary depending on who you think really won that 2000 election.

Former Congressman Jim Kolbe started the year by appearing at the kickoff for Republican Tim Bee's campaign to replace Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in his old Southern Arizona District 8 seat.

But now Kolbe — who announced in July that he would not be campaigning for Bee any more because of "personal reasons" — has found himself involved in another cause.

Kolbe, the only openly gay Republican in Congress before his 2006 retirement, tells Notebook he's playing a role in the campaign against Proposition 102. The proposal, which would amend the Arizona Constitution to restrict gay marriage, is a measure that Bee helped put on the ballot.

"I believe very strongly in our society that we should be working to strengthen all relationships," Kolbe said in a recent interview.

In that race against Bee, Giffords has lined up the endorsement of Wesley Clark, the former Democratic presidential candidate and retired U.S. Army general.

Giffords and Clark apparently met during his 2004 campaign and, according to her campaign, "have talked a few times."

But apparently Clark's political action committee, WesPAC, came to the campaign with the endorsement without Giffords having to ask for it.

We told you a couple of weeks ago about how neither Bee nor Giffords had an issues page on their respective Web sites.

Well, now they do. At TimBee.com, Bee lists eight issues, including "border security" and economy and taxes."

Giffords has launched a whole new Web site at Giffordsforcongress.com, complete with a "Working for you selection."

There you will find Giffords' statements on seven issues, including tax relief and health care.

Political Notebook

Daniel Scarpinato