Mexico City, Mexico – Josefina Vazquez Mota’s views on education, Enrique Peña Nieto’s security strategy, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s proposals for creating jobs, and Gabriel Quadri’s ideas on the environment have been overshadowed by the low-cut dress worn by an Argentine model at Mexico’s first presidential debate.

Julia Orayen, who appeared on the cover of the September 2008 issue of Playboy Mexico, was an unknown to the majority of Mexicans until Sunday night.

The busty model’s 24 seconds on television distributing materials to the four presidential candidates landed her on the front pages of newspapers and led to her spending Monday giving interviews to various media outlets.

All of the fuss was because she wore a tight dress criticized by many for being cut too low and inappropriate for the event, while others praised her choice of attire.

Orayen appeared on national television wearing a long, tight, white, low-cut dress at the start of Sunday night’s debate.

The Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE, which organized the debate ahead of the July 1st presidential election, was forced to issue a statement apologizing for "the production mistake associated with the attire" of the production assistant.

The IFE "offers an apology to the citizens and to the female candidate, Vazquez Mota, and the other candidates for the presidency," Peña Nieto, Lopez Obrador, and Quadri, according to the statement.

Orayen, who describes herself as being Argentine born but "with a Mexican heart," said she selected the outfit and added that "nothing was said to her about her choice of attire before she went out onto the stage."

The former playmate was hired by the production company selected to put together the televised debate. The company apologized for failing to supervise Orayen’s attire, blaming the mistake on "the craziness" of the moment.

In an interview Orayen said that she never considered her dress to be inappropriate and was concerned about too many other things to give the matter much thought. The model said she was suffering from food poisoning and was injected with medicines.

Social-networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, lit up with commentary on Orayen’s cleavage and attire. The model insists that it was an innocent mistake and that she sees nothing inappropriate about the dress, which she described as one she likes even though it "opened up a lot."

"It looked good," Orayen said. "In a place like that, whatever you wear is going to be criticized. For me, it’s not degrading for women any way you look at it," the model said, adding that no one sent her "to draw away attention from the debate."Orayen’s telephone has not stopped ringing since the broadcast.