When it comes to the hottest daughters on the presidential campaign trail, the votes won’t have to be recounted, sorted, or investigated. This matter is sealed: the blondes are out and the brunettes are in.

“It’s a race between Barbara Bush and Alexandra Kerry. They should be in a reality show,” Tom Basile, 40, a telecommunications executive, said in dissing their blonde counterparts, Jenna Bush and Vanessa Kerry.

The dark-haired sisters’ rule over the hearts of New York men comes after something of a “daughters moment” in the campaign this week.

Senator Kerry’s daughters Vanessa, 27, and Alexandra, 30, spoke last night at the Democratic National Convention, and they’re featured in the September issue of Harper’s Bazaar.

And in an end to their aversion to public life, President Bush’s 22-yearold twins gave their first sit-down interview in the August issue of Vogue – complete with a glam photo shoot by Patrick Demarchelier – and have taken boldly to the campaign trail.

But if this a race to Most Favored Daughter status, Barbara takes the lead – despite Alexandra Kerry’s X-rated incident at the Cannes Film Festival when an onslaught of paparazzi flashbulbs turned her sheer black dress into an racy see-through number.

“Barbara has nice lips and nice legs. She looks like my girlfriend,” said Scott Soule, a 28-year-old chef at a Union Square hot spot. In spite of his choice, he was willing to cross party lines and pronounced Ms. Kerry passable.

“Barbara Bush is hot,” said Varun Bhartiya, 20, a student at Cooper Union, who added with less certitude: “And Alexandra Kerry.”

But what of the flaxen-haired girls, Vanessa Kerry, a student at Harvard Medical School, and Jenna Bush, who’ll be teaching fourth grade this fall?

Don’t gentlemen prefer blondes?

“When you’re a blonde, it is easy to be good-looking. When you’re a brunette you have to try harder,” said Matt Podolnick, 26, who was visiting Manhattan to look for an apartment – and should consider a security detail once he moves in.

“I don’t like blondes. I’m from Florida,” said Tim O’Kane, 24, of Manhattan, who preferred Barbara Bush “better than Alexandra Kerry.”

“Bim-bo,” said actor Jake Mulcahy, after looking at a photo of Jenna Bush. Mr. Mulcahy – who starred in “Porky’s,” “Porky’s II” and “The Brothers McMullen” – much preferred Alexandra Kerry on the grounds of professional camaraderie. “She’s in film. I’m an actor, so she’s got my vote already.” He declined, with a knowing look of disdain, to reduce the choice down to blonde and brunette: “I’m 41.”

When judging the girls as pairs, guys around town are considerably less decisive.

“The Bush girls look like they have style,” said Brooklynite Tim Allen, 30, who was dressed to impress in sharp multi-colored shirt. “The Kerry girls look more like regular girls you’d go to college with. They’re all very pretty.”

“Alexandra and Vanessa Kerry look a lot like their dad. Jenna Bush reminds me a lot of her father, too. Barbara is sophisticated and mature,” said budding playwright Aaron Tracey, 24, who ran into Barbara Bush at Yale.

Who would he cast in a play? “Jenna might be the best actress. She has charisma,” he said, recalling a recent photo of the presidential daughter sticking her tongue out at reporters on a campaign stop in St. Louis and the rumors of her rowdy behavior.

On a professional level, agent Kevin Jones of Major Model Management said the Kerry ladies have a slight advantage over their Republican counterparts.

“Could any of these girls be models? No. But if you step back as an agent, the first thing you look at is height,” he said. “The Bush girls wouldn’t win that fight. The Kerry girls are taller and more angular.”

But really, the Bush team has all the modeling talent in needs in Lauren Bush, who has been vamping for the camera since she was 14.

“She’s got that all-American look, a great sense of style, and those eyebrows,” said Elite Celebrities’ Christine Schott, who manages Lauren Bush’s career. “She’s got great genes.”

Lauren Bush has landed on the cover of W magazine and Town & Country, as well as print ads for a two-year campaign with Tommy Hillfiger Jeans.

But for the moment, her cousins and their Democratic rivals, are in the spotlight – and the magazine spreads.

In the shoot for Harper’s Bazaar, the Kerry sisters chose their clothes, which features director Alison Fabian said included “nothing overly sexy, nothing too prim.”

“Both of the girls are extremely confident and at ease with themselves,” Ms. Fabian said. “They were even prettier in person. Alexandra is tall and willowy. She wears clothes well. Vanessa has good bone structure.”

Regardless of who has style, structure, or savvy, some gents still require a bit of substance before taking sides.

“I wouldn’t go out with any of them. They just don’t have what it takes,” said Sal Celona, 32, a beefy chef who lives Brooklyn.

So what does it take for him?

“More than a picture,” he said.