More malarkey-laced rhetoric spewed in Tuesday’s presidential debate than the vice-presidential debate Oct. 11. But this time, the malarkey came from UISG’s politicians instead of the talking heads onscreen.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the IMU watch party sponsored by President Nic Pottebaum and all of UISG came with its fair share of propaganda, including a get-out-the-vote effort that featured an adolescent, needy, and entirely desperate effort to be the center of attention.

I’m talking about the student organization giving out T-shirts with the key phrase “Voting is Sexy.”

Before you start drafting your letters, I have nothing against voting — in fact, I encourage everyone with half a brain (yes, even the ones who spout platitudes only worthy of bumper stickers at me) to vote.

But, undeniably, voting is not sexy. And this was just a stunt to attract attention.

“[The purpose of the logo] was to really stand out and attract attention from students,” Vice President Jessie Tobin said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. “If you have something that just says, ‘Go Vote,’ students might look over it, but when you have something that says, ‘Voting is Sexy,’ students are going to say ‘Hey, what’s that? I want that shirt.’ ”

I mean, sure, even I could make voting sound sexy. My heart fluttered with anticipation as my eyes gazed gently onto the fresh ballot, waiting for my touch.

But come on, guys — it’s an insult to make such an obvious appeal to sexuality to get college kids to vote. The act of voting isn’t about getting babes and scoring with a few chickadees, it is about the moral obligation all citizens have to pick a government that best represents them.

Promoting sexuality alongside civic duty is sort of like giving Anthony Weiner a seat in Congress and access to a Twitter account or giving Bill Clinton the title of commander in chief and access to an intern. Either way, you lower the standard of citizen, and somebody eventually gets screwed.