A Cold Wind in August

As I write this, Senator Barack Obama is only a few hours from naming his Vice Presidential pick. One guess: it's not Hillary.

The Senator's had a tough month. His reaction to Russia's invasion of Georgia seemed weak to many people. He tried to strengthen it, but it didn't come off well. He spent a week in Hawaii vacationing with his family, but instead of coming back physically stronger, he came home with a cold he says he caught from his daughters. Summer colds are the worst.

He seems to still be fuming over the McCain ad that compared him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. I think his advisors would do well to tell to forget it and get on with the campaign. Of course, there is that haunting ring of truth to the ad. He is a worldwide celebrity — almost as famous as Michael Phelps — yet he's running for an office he's clearly not yet qualified to hold. Being a celebrity is not enough.

Saddleback

At the Saddleback Civil Forum, Pastor Rick Warren asked each candidate which Supreme Court Justices he would not have nominated. Obama answered, "I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. I don't think that he, I don't think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that elevation."

You get the impression that he almost made the fatal slip. He almost said Justice Thomas wasn't experienced enough for the job. It would have been a fatal slip because at the time he was nominated, Clarence Thomas clearly had more experience qualifying him to be a member of the Supreme Court than the Senator has preparing him to be president.

But he avoided the catastrophe and only spoke to the man not being a strong enough jurist or legal thinker. This falls in line with other liberals who seem to think Clarence Thomas is not very smart. In fact, liberals have a general tendency to view blacks who don't tow the Democratic party line as intellectually inferior. That particular prejudice damages this country in a myriad of ways.

In recent years, we've learned that Clarence Thomas has been a major, behind-the- scenes influence on Justice Scalia, but Obama sees Scalia as smart — just wrong philosophically — while Thomas doesn't have the brains for the job. Interesting.

Would You Believe Some Old Ear Muffs of Silence?

Obama's performance at Saddleback was less than stellar, despite his rest in Hawaii. McCain, the septuagenarian who hadn't been vacationing, seemed at his best. McCain even looked good. He was energetic. He gave tight, well considered answers. He was so much better than Obama that the Democrats began to complain that he must have cheated. Instead of being in a "cone of silence" as Rick Warren had said, he must have been listening as Obama answered the same questions he would soon be asked.

Maybe they're all too young to know that "cone of silence" is a joke going back to the old "Get Smart" TV series in the sixties. (Though I didn't see it, it is my understanding that the recent "Get Smart" film also used the gag.) I think most Americans were in on the joke and didn't think he was in a literal "cone of silence."

McCain spokesperson, Nicolle Wallace, said, "The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous."

How's that for a bit of logic? Everyone knows that once you've been a prisoner of war it's impossible to ever again have a moral failing.

Politico reports that a McCain aide told them, "Senator McCain was in a motorcade led by the United States Secret Service and held in a green room with no broadcast feed."

I tend to believe the McCain people on this. I think if he had heard the questions and tried to memorize answers, he wouldn't have been as good. He's terrible at delivering prepared remarks, but he does town hall meetings all the time. He's one of those speakers who's at his best when the answers aren't formulated in advance. He was better than Obama because he's simply better at that kind of speaking.

The WMDs of Politics

On Tuesday, Obama told a crowd in Raleigh, "Our job in this election is not just 'win,' although I'm a big believer in winning. I don't intend to lose this election. John McCain doesn't know what he's up against."

That statement starts out like the Obama of January, but ends like the Clintons of March. Earlier this year, Obama repeatedly criticized the Clintons for their willingness to say and do anything to get elected. Now he seems to have joined them.

I was bothered not only by the words, but the way he said them — with anger and bluster, like the kid on the playground who's trying to act tough because he's afraid. It sounded vaguely threatening.

Convention Time

The Democrats begin their convention on Monday in Denver after an "Interfaith Gathering" on Sunday. Thursday, they will be ending with a bang. As their official convention website puts it, "Breaking the mold of traditional political Conventions, Senator Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States at Denver's INVESCO Field at Mile High."

According to numerous reports, John McCain will name his Vice Presidential nominee the next day. Supposedly, this will tamp down enthusiasm for Obama and cut into the Democrats' post-convention "bounce" in the polls. . . . I doubt it.

So the Democrats end their meeting on Thursday, August 28th. The next day, the Friday heading into the Labor Day holiday, McCain (supposedly) will announce his running mate. Then, on Labor Day itself, the Republicans will convene in Minneapolis-St. Paul. They'll be up against a holiday at the beginning, and Thursday night, when McCain accepts the nomination, he'll be up against the NFL regular season kick-off game.

From a scheduling standpoint, the Democrats seem to have a major advantage. With the conventions so close together, TV viewers may show signs of convention-fatigue long before the Republicans are finished showing off. The canned speeches and choreographed/spontaneous demonstrations may all start to run together long before McCain takes the podium to accept the nomination. Of course, considering how he's done in the past with teleprompter read speeches, that may be just as well.

Posted: 8-22-2008
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