Marco Rubio's shiny high-heeled booties are the talk - and envy - of the presidential campaign trail

The Miami Senator has stood out from the crowds with his stylish footwear

Marco Rubio's boots have been a hit (AP)

Kinky Boots is doing just fine on Broadway, but at least one of the Republican hopefuls vying for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination may have aspirations to take the musical show on a national tour.

This would be Senator Marco Rubio, who has attempted to set himself apart in the crowded field by depicting himself as the fizzy candidate of the future. He is just 44 years old, looks a deal younger and, to boot (apologies) may have just revealed an interesting fetish for a certain kind of footwear.

It was one press image of Mr Rubio preparing to step onto his campaign battle bus that first caught the attention of one of the other campaigns. After spotting that the young senator from Florida was sporting rather shiny ankle-high boots with heels on the generous side, a top press aide to Senator Ted Cruz, released the following tweet: “A Vote for Marco Rubio Is a Vote for Men’s High-Heeled Booties.”

Marco Rubio's rivals have been talking about his shiny boots (AP)

It’s not clear if the purpose was to highlight the relative shortness of Mr Rubio – he is 5’10” against Mr Cruz’s majestic 5’11” – or simply suggest there is something off about the senator’s sartorial sense.

But in a campaign hardly bereft of grave subjects to debate, the potshot from the Cruz camp has unleashed a whole symphony of similarly silly commentaries on social media and from other candidates eager to join the jig. Senator Rand Paul opined something close to envy before appearing on the morning talk show, The View.

“Rubio has those cute new boots and I don’t want to be outdone,” he said.

Carly Fiorina butted in also via Twitter, posting a picture of her own favourite pair of high-heeled boots and the comment: “Yeah, @marcorubio, but can you rock these?”

It didn’t take long, of course, for some to start pondering from where the curious boots had come – neither proper cowboy attire nor just regular brogues – and how much they cost.

And the Rubio campaign found it necessary to respond. They were purchased in Florsheim, a high street shoe chain, for $115.

There seems little reason to think the bootie eruption has done Mr Rubio much harm. Doubtless he plans to use his boots, kinky or not, to walk all over the competition.