IS IT JUST ME, or is the country in serious trouble? Other things I wonder about:
How come Obama's VP list is so short? Barack Obama's short list of vice presidential prospects is much shorter than he'd like it to be. It's down to Senator Evan Bayh (D-Borrring), Senator Joe Biden (D-Rather-be-Secretary-of-State), Wesley Clark (D-Not-Afraid-of-McCain), Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Governor Brian Schweitzer, Democrat of Montana (!).
Virginia's ex-governor Mark Warner and Senator Jim Webb both said, "Don't ask." So did Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell comes from a high-value state, but has loose lips and, as a Jewish friend told me, America's not going to vote for a black and a Jew on the same ticket.
Chris Dodd, the gentile senator from Connecticut, has a hard-partying past and low-interest loans from
Al Gore won't do it. He's more influential now than he ever was as vice president.
Picking a woman would infuriate Hillary partisans.
The VP list is short because there's no job description, all politicians have flaws, and prospects face endless gotcha games by the media.
Isn't this the ideal time for Hillary to divorce Bill? One big reason why Hillary Clinton (D-Pouting) won't be offered the vice president slot is Bill Clinton. He almost single-handedly took down her primary campaign with reckless comments. His choice of donors to his presidential library is downright masochistic. No one knows how he would behave if his wife were vice president. A good guess: badly.
Why do pundits (and Obama) start every answer with "Look"? Sounds to my ear like, "Hey, stupid."
Why does Obama have to account for dumb things black people say? First, it was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Then it was Jesse Jackson, saying he'd like to castrate Obama. Then it was comedian Bernie Mac telling an off-color joke at an Obama event. Who's next, Michael Jackson?
Why isn't McCain accountable for dumb things whites say? When former senator Phil Gramm - supposedly McCain's top economic adviser - said we were having a mental depression, not a real economic recession, McCain brushed it off, saying Gramm doesn't speak for him. "I speak for me." Sounds like "I am the decider."
Is terrorism good for McCain? McCain's chief strategist Charles Black told Fortune magazine that another terrorist attack on American soil would be a "big advantage" to McCain. Probably true. I wonder, would the Cheney-Bush team gin up a terrorist threat in, say, October?
Wasn't Wes Clark right? Following Bush strategist Karl Rove's practice of attacking an opponent's strength, retired general Wesley Clark went after McCain's readiness to be commander in chief. "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president," Clark said.
Instead of rejecting Clark's words, Obama should've said the general is entitled to his views. Fact is, McCain has no special preparation to be commander in chief. The Naval Academy? He finished 894th in a class of 899.
Did Rove wear blue socks? Karl Rove said Obama reminds him of "the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette, that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by." This says more about Rove than Obama. To borrow a phrase baseball manager Lou Piniella used to describe sportswriters, Rove was one of those kids who wore blue socks in gym class.
Why is McCain so close in the polls? Despite a dreadful economy, an unpopular war, and a lousy campaign, McCain is right behind Obama in recent polls. Why? Newsweek's poll found 26 percent of white Americans believe Obama was raised as a Muslim and 39 percent believe he attended an Islamic school in Indonesia. Both are false.
What was The New Yorker thinking? The usually sophisticated magazine naively ran a "satiric" cover cartoon showing Barack Obama in Muslim garb and Michelle Obama dressed as a guerrilla fighter with an Afro and assault rifle. This perpetuates myths that jeopardize Obama's chances to be president.
Next week, I hope the magazine runs a cover showing McCain as a dithering old man wearing an adult diaper and drooling as he's fed baby food. Look, it's satire.
Dan Payne is a Boston-area media consultant who has worked for Democratic candidates around the country. He does political analysis for WBUR radio.
