By Jennifer Vanasco

By now you’ve probably seen or at least heard of the catchy Obama Girl YouTube Video where a sexy young woman struts down the street proclaiming that she has “a crush on Obama.”

Maybe you’ve even seen the funnier (I think) follow-up, a musical throwdown between Obama Girl and Giuliani Girl that ends in a political pillowfight.

They’re both kind of sexist—but also really clever and fresh.

Not quite as well known is the video from former “American Idol” contestant Taryn Southern called “Hott 4 Hill.”

In a soaring story ballad that has a hint of country and a dollop of pop, Southern sings, “I have a crush on this girl named Hill, but she’s not with me, she’s with this guy named Bill. Hillary, I think I want you. Hillary, I think I need you. …Hillary, I like your hair, the pants that you wear and the shape of your derriere.”

Right. It’s a lesbian crush video about Hillary Clinton.

“Hott 4 Hill,” like “Obama Girl” before it, has attracted all sorts of attention, including being highlighted by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Hardball. In an interview, Matthews asked Southern whether she meant to support or denigrate Hillary Clinton because, he says, it’s not really clear.

And he has a point.

For years, extreme conservatives have questioned Clinton’s sexuality as a way of trying to make her repugnant to voters.

Their idea, I guess, is that a strong woman with strong opinions and a good measure of power must be gay. And gayness, they insinuate (or worse) is absolutely un-American.

Of course, this only applies to women who are Democrats. Strong women who are Republicans get a pass. (This is clearest in the example of the unmarried Condoleeza Rice, who, rumors say, is actually fairly out in her own Washington and California circles. It will be a good day for the gay agenda when Rice finally comes out to the rest of us.)

So a music video about a woman who has a crush on Hillary Clinton—even if that video says, as this one does, that “I know you’re not gay, but I’m hoping for bi,” could be meant to make the candidate seem worthy of lust, or could just be trying to revive the old lesbian rumors.

Taryn Southern told Matthews that she was not trying to do either. “It’s just a parody,” she said.

Yep. “Hott4Hill” is, indeed, just a parody. Because although it’s about a lesbian crush, there’s really nothing gay about it.

Southern has been clear that she herself is not gay—she was just taking the Obama Girl formula and applying it to Clinton because that seemed creative to her.

But unlike the “Obama Girl” and “Giuliani Girl” videos, “Hott4Hill” doesn’t talk about issues. The other two videos mention the Iraq War, the environment, and the candidate’s records; all “Hott4Hill” talks about is the candidate’s clothes. (It also gets its facts wrong, advocating for Hillary to be on Capitol Hill—which she already is, as the junior senator from New York.)

There is no whisper of Clinton’s take on gay marriage, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” or any other LGBT-centric position. There is no hint of lesbian culture.

In other words, Taryn Southern is basically using lesbianism for its shock value. She wanted attention, so she took someone else’s idea and did something that was outrageous without being outré.

And it worked.

Taryn Southern has indeed gotten national attention.

This is no surprise. Queerness is often used as a signifier for all sorts of straight agendas: to imply degeneracy or liberalness or extremism or creativity or hipness.

Once being gay became a cultural football, we gained some political power—but we lost the ability to completely define our own identities.

I’m all for this new glut of political videos made by amateurs. I love the commercials; I think the commentary is often clever, if not always insightful. I’m really happy that Americans in their teens, 20s and 30s have found a way to be interested in politics and to increase voter participation in the Democratic process. Most of it makes me laugh or think, even when I strongly disagree.

But I’m unhappy that lesbians have been co-opted here by a straight “American Idol” contestant who wasn’t trying to make a political point, but trying instead to get her big break in the entertainment industry.

I’m tired of lesbianism—or gayness—being used as someone else’s shtick.

The next time I see a lesbian crush video about a female candidate, I hope it’s starring an actual lesbian.

Jennifer Vanasco is an award-winning, syndicated columnist in New York. Email her at jennifer.vanasco@gmail.com; read her occasional blog and column archives at jennifervanasco.com.