It seems there’s been some trouble in paradise for Senator Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry – though that may not be a bad thing.

While campaigning Sunday in Flagstaff, Ariz., the Democratic candidate and his wife found themselves in a lively squabble and took to separate sleeping quarters at the Little American Hotel, according to cyber gossip Matt Drudge.

While a campaign-trail tiff isn’t exactly a Howard Dean-style explosion, it could give the couple a little more character.

“If this is true, most couples can relate. It makes them seem more human,” said the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato, who dismissed the notion any spat would have a remote impact on voters. “This is a serious year about serious things. This is petty.”

Political campaigns are known to be notoriously taxing, what with long days of shaking hands, grinning for the camera, and dazzling audiences with the same stump speech over and over.

Even local politicians know the rigors of it all.

“I found campaigning to be one of the most physically demanding undertakings,” said City Council Member Eva Moskowitz. “There’s the calling, standing, and saying ‘I’m Eva Moskowitz’ over and over.”

It’s all part of the business they’ve chosen, but if the Democrats were to win the race for the White House, things in the Kerry household could get even hotter.

“The campaign is nothing compared to serving in office,” Mr. Sabato said.

Manhattan therapists agree that fighting during times of great stress is something most couples – married or not – can understand.

“Even very, very loving couples would find it stressful. They’re in a fish bowl. They have no privacy,” said psychologist Suzanne Simon, who is in private practice on the Upper East Side.

Ms. Simon said she would advise the couple to find time for themselves: “I would tell them it’s okay. Take some time that’s just the two of them, if it’s possible. Even a few minutes each day to spend together.”

“With any kind of stress, people are much more likely to fight with their spouse,” said Upper East Side psychologist Richard Murphy. “Its seen as a safe outlet.”

In advising the couple, Mr. Murphy said he would need to know what the fight was about, but in general, the key is to stop the fighting before it becomes about comments made in the course of the fight – not the matter at hand.

“Recognize how it becomes a vicious cycle. Prevent the escalation and counter-escalation,” he said. “They could take a bit of a time-out or say ‘We’ll talk about this in five minutes.'”

If there have been fights on the Bush campaign, they’ve been kept from view, and that may have to do with the fact that first lady Laura Bush has been hitting the campaign trail alone, on her husband’s behalf.

Ms. Heinz Kerry, by contrast, has been seen at Mr. Kerry’s side for a great deal of the campaign. And she’s made no secret about her temper: last month she confronted an editor of the Pittsburgh Tribute-Review and told him to “shove it.”

The Kerry campaign declined to comment on the news of the Flagstaff frisson, reported by the Drudge Report. And the Little America Hotel did not return calls.

Political and civilian couples who fight can always look forward to one good thing: making up.

And with Mr. Kerry’s resources at his disposal, he should be able to get his hands on a mollifying bauble or two. (And of course he should do the groveling: She could be sipping fruity drinks on the porch of her Nantucket manse if not for him.)

Jewelry designer Pascal Lacroix suggests one of his 18-karat gold bracelets as the perfect tension-easing token. Bracelets, he argues, go with more of a woman’s ever-changing wardrobe – and therefore will remain a regular part of her ensemble.

“A ring has a connotation of marriage, and earrings you take off before you sleep. Necklaces you change often,” he said. “But my bracelets are personal and made to be close to the body. They look casual at the beach or look chic in the evening.”

If flowers are the way to go, Mr. Kerry could always clip the “Coast to Coast” column in the new magazine Shop Etc. The magazine’s editors picked the best flower shops around the country (which could be handy if the fights keep on comin’).

A splashy bouquet from a shop in a battleground state could be of help in more ways than one. Maybe Pieter Bouterse Studio in Cleveland or Artichokes & Pomegrantes in Santa Fe, N.M.

But then again, instant forgiveness comes in tiny bubbles. Pierrer-Jouet Champagne is a classic twofer: the bottle comes with a romantic spray of anemone flowers enameled right on it – and it’s named after a winemaker and his wife.