Dean Hrbacek appears slimmer than usual

ean Hrbacek has found a great way to diet for the voters! Hrbacek "couldn't find time" to pose fo a full length photo for his election mailer. So he had his face photoshopped onto the body of a thinner and leaner man.

The brochure that U.S. House candidate and former Sugar Land mayor Dean Hrbacek mailed to voters this week says, "Dean's record speaks for itself."

But his physique does not. In a photo next to the words of praise, Hrbacek's body is spoken for by the torso of an appreciably slimmer man.

The picture, presented as a true image of the candidate, is actually a computerized composite of Hrbacek's face and someone else's figure, in suit and tie, from neck to knee caps. The give-away is a flawed fit of head and collar.

Tsk, Tsk:

Hrbacek, a tax lawyer and accountant, did not immediately return a call placed to his campaign headquarters Friday by The Associated Press. He's among 10 Republicans seeking the nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford.

Campaign manager Scott Broschart acknowledged the image is a fake. Hrbacek has been so busy meeting voters that he had no time to take a full-length, genuine photo for the political mailing, Broschart said.

So Hrbacek's campaign put the headless body with the candidate's head.

Not, perhaps the most sensible thing to do:

"He may appreciate that we took a few pounds off him," Broschart said. "I think the voters ... are more concerned with the issues as opposed to pretty photo shoots."

Republican political consultant Allen Blakemore of Houston, who has no client in the congressional race, said there's no law against the practice "other than the laws of gravity — the negative effect on your polling numbers and popularity when you do such things."

At this stage in an election all you're doing is asking people to trust you. This isn't likely to go down well, I'd guess this will seriously hurt Dean Hrbacek's chances.