Paul Soglin, Madison, WI

Nice stache, Paul! Mr. Soglin is running for mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. Paul was also mayor of Madison from 1973-79, then again from 1989-97. He ran for a third time in 2003 and was narrowly defeated by current incumbent Dave Cieslewicz -- who, let it be said, does not have a mustache. The two men are in a sort of rematch in the current mayoral race for which elections will be held on April 5, 2011.

Wow, if Stacheforge has its facts straight, that mustache has been hanging out for a long time. If mustaches are back in style, they are back from last time they were in style, in the 1970s, when Paul was in college, which apparently is when that caterpillar first climbed onto Paul's lip. Although many of his peers chickened out and shaved when the style passed, Mr. Soglin dedicated his face to that bad boy. Soglin's 'stache shares something in common with Soglin's suits: although each evolved with the vagaries of fashion, each are a lasting part of Paul Soglin's look. His mustache became wider at times, and more trim at times. When some salt was dropped into the salt-and-pepper color, Paul proudly wore it like a champion, like a silverback gorilla -- although, ironically, silverback gorillas do not grow mustaches.

Mr. Soglin has been well known in Madison as an activist since his college days, and is well respected for improving the city during his stints as mayor. In the opinion of Stacheforge, however, none of that is as important as the constancy and respect that Soglin's mustache brings to the city of Madison. As we wait for the April election to see whether the people of Madison elect Soglin mayor, Stacheforge endorses that mustache as candidate for awesomeness.