In Honor of the DNC

Saw this at the economics blog Chicago Boyz and had to pass it along. Bob Hope for the win!

Man, was Biden a not-good choice. Obama was kind of betwixt and between with Hillary as a VP -- he's more likely to win in a couple of months with her, but the payback would be four years (at least) with her in the White House, with Bill, hanging out in the VP's office with a cup of coffee and telling "...well, when I was President" stories to anyone who would listen. If he wanted to win, and bolster his numbers with women, he should have picked Hillary.

As it is, he went with Joe Biden, from the Electoral College powerhouse Delaware, who has much to offer. A lot of what he has to offer is a legacy of misstatements that make George W. Bush look like Oscar Wilde, including a couple of lines about his new boss, interpreted as crypto-racist by some earlier in the Democratic Primary process:

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

I seem to remember Trent Lott getting pilloried for making comments that some interpreted as racist, and here Joe gets a pass in part because of his known habit of talking until he says something stupid. Not only does he get a pass, he gets promoted to he head of the class, over guys like Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, either of whom could have probably taken Virginia into the blue-state column in November. Instead, we get Joe Biden, who allegedly is a master of "retail politics", converting people one-on-one to his point of view, as in this appeal for the subcontinental Indian vote:



In case you missed it, the punchline is this:

"I've had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking,"

Why this is a bad choice is that Obama's selling point is Change -- he's not like the old-style politicians. This is true, at least as far as him not having much in the way of experience or accomplishments like all the other old-style politicians. Apparently the 'Change' thing has been wearing thin, so Obama hired himself one of the oldest of the old-style politicians, who's been in the Senate since Obama was in seventh grade, more or less. To my mind, this is changing horses in midstream, it will be interesting to see how this is spun in Obama's speech on the final night of the convention. He's dynamic! He's bold! He's new! But don't worry, he's hired an Old Guy in case you're nervous about the dynamic, bold or new parts. Like I said before -- specificity is like poison for Barack Obama's political career at this point.

There has not been much in the way of warm reaction to this from any quarter, other than the GOP. The daily Gallup McCain-Obama poll is a statistical dead heat, down from a +9 Obama lead. There is not even a convention bounce yet, much less a VP pick bounce. I would say this does not bode well, and it leads to another criticism of Obama by the Clinton supporters that does seem to have some legs -- can't close the deal.

If Obama walks away from the convention still in a dead heat, I would say that bodes very ill for him in the coming weeks. Typically the GOP closes the gap toward the end of the electoral season, if the Democrat isn't ahead by the end of their convention history suggests that they will not make it up in the last few weeks.

Now that Obama has flipped his hole card, there is some ability for McCain to make a choice that accentuates the differences. McCain already has gravitas, he doesn't need to bring an old hand on deck to reassure Middle America. He gets the liberty of a partial stunt pick, and the obvious choice would be Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska......were it not for an evolving maybe-scandal relating to a state trooper who was married to a Palin relative, the now-fired Commissioner of Public Safety, and whether or not the Governor's Office tried to get the ex-relative fired. I would say that puts her out of contention for this year.



The more converntional female pick might be Kay Bailey Hutcheson, the conservative Texas Senator. She's got more experience than the Democratic candidate, including several positions in Texas state government, and she's telegenic. The less-conventional female candidate would be Meg Whitman, who led the growth of eBay and who is one of McCain's economics advisors. Her resume is probably better than anyone else in the field of candidates from the standpoint of leadership and experience.

Meg Whitman

On the male side, the big three I hear discussed are Mitt Romney, Bobby Jindal (current first-term Louisiana governor) and Eric Cantor (a US Representative from Virginia). I kind of like Mitt, he's not a bad choice. He's probably conservative enough for most conservatives and has a good executive resume, again -- better than the Democratic Presidential candidate's resume.


Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal, if he doesn't get picked this year will be a definite choice in 2012 if he can do well at the state level. He's younger than Obama, a Rhodes Scholar who came back to Louisiana to help fix the adopted state he loves, plus he's Indian-American and I would love to see him make a Dunkin Donuts crack during the VP debate. Jindal is a conservative Catholic who's pro-life, pro-guns, articulate and can be counted on to make Joe Biden look stupid, which is a plus -- but he is young and relatively inexperienced, though I predict good things from him. Cantor I don't know so much about, but apparently if you want a conservative who is smart and can help you keep VA in the red-state category, he's your guy.


Eric Cantor

Lieberman -- well, not a horrible choice, but to a certain extent you're trading your conservative base (who will come out to vote if you treat them nice) for independents who may or may not get off the couch to acknowledge your 'Maverickness'. Lieberman is avowedly pro-choice, even if the does get the War on Terror right, and it's questionable how much he'd help you with conservative Democrats. Connecticut is a questionable Electoral College prize, as well.

Well, I'm sure Bill Clinton will give a great speech and Joe Biden has been fitted with the electrical shock device to prevent him getting off-topic. I won't be watching the convention, but enjoy if you do. My favorite new controversy is the "Temple of Gloom" built at Invesco Field as a backdrop for Obama's speech:



When told that Obama would emerge from a "temple", an unnamed McCain staffer gave my favorite one-liner so far: "Is this from The Onion?"

DNC Obama McCain Vice-President politcs

Shack! and The Wonder Twins

No, I'm not talking about the book, 'The Shack', though from what I hear the first four chapters are gut-wrenching but everybody should read it, even though I haven't.

'Shack' is a term that pilots use when they drop a bomb on a target and hit dead-center. It's a term one of my partners in my radiology group uses with some authenticity since he's a former Air Force Flight Surgeon. And it's also the term one former Navy Aviator who happens to be the GOP nominee for President would be familiar with, and might have used when he saw this ad his campaign put together:



It's only 74 seconds long, but it's 74 more seconds of truth than you'll get from any average 74 seconds of network news coverage this morning, or this evening.

I disagree with Barack Obama on a lot of things. More than that, it's the Obamessiah complex his devoted followers (the Obamatons) display that really sticks in my craw, and I'm glad McCain's campaign finally called him on it. If you look up the term "cypher" in the dictionary, Barack Obama's picture should be next to the political subdefinition, if there is one.

Shelby Steele has gone into this effect in detail, that Obama is a vessel for unfulfilled wants and needs in some segments of our national populace, and that as a vessel he cannot become too specific. Like Bruce Lee said about Jeet Kun Do, he is like water -- taking the form of whatever container he finds himself placed into. His policy positions meander like a stream, even doubling back on themselves to create oxbow lakes of forgetfulness that the media lovingly dries with the blazing fire of their devotion. NAFTA? I was for it before I was against it, when I was in Ohio. Capital punishment? Totally inappropriate when I was a state Senator and lecturer in constitutional law, but when I need to win in Louisiana it's fine and dandy to string up child rapists. The list goes on. And on.



While the concept of the Wonder Twins transformative abilities (the ability to Change, if you will) was interesting, what they could actually do was something else. The Wonder Twins had theoretical promise but in execution they became a running joke, even to children. Shape of...a cocker spaniel! Form of...a slurpee! They were among the more useful Superfriends if you needed a sheet of ice for a pratfall, or a mouse to retrieve a key for a prison cell but ultimately their special ability was borderline useless.

The problem with being like water, and with being a figure rather than a leader, is that at some point you're going to have to solidify around a position or two, like one of the Wonder Twins from the old Superfriends cartoon series becoming an ice sculpture. And since art is subjective, some people who like your concept will disagree with the execution, and be rather iffy on the particular form you take even if they bought into the concept to begin with. Having a super-power is great, but don't expect legions of fans if your super-power turns out to be lame. Obama's appeal cannot but diminish as the things people project upon his deliberately nebulous persona are found to not fit the specifics that the election process will require.

Besides promising change, you have to deliver. When someone comes along and asks me to believe them that they are a change agent, it would be helpful to see their portfolio of change. It would be similar to me telling you I am a superb painter and describing the beautiful painting I would create for you, full of vivid color, dynamic movement and inspirational fire, if only you'll pay me an astronomical sum up front.

This is the crux of my problem with Obama. He looks great on stage, he's telegenic, has a great voice. He speaks well, and runs a teleprompter the way Stevie Ray Vaughn ran a guitar. If elected he will likely not display the apparent eloquitionary ineptness that characterizes George W. Bush, of whose speeches Tucker Carlson famously was reminded of "a drunk crossing an icy street". But really, do we elect Presidents to give speeches? If so, Alec Baldwin would be President For Life.

I prefer to elect Presidents based on what they want to do and what they believe. When they're coy about those things, or show that they don't really have any guiding principles by changing policies like others change socks, I am not convinced. And when, as the McCain piece points out, the centerpiece of their campaign is their personality and presence, rather than their positions and beliefs, they're not going to sway me and in the longer run (i.e., the next few months) I believe the 'Elect me because I'm Me' ploy will weaken.

Meanwhile, I'm glad the McCain campaign has discovered the wonderful power of humor. Of the two candidates, it's pretty clear McCain takes himself less seriously, though in truth there is a bit of self-mocking sarcasm and grandiosity in some of Obama's statements. He should know, though, that McCain's best weapons are Obama's own words, and vice-versa. This ad is just one example of having them served back at the utterer. It remains to be seen whether Obama's campaign will let this lie. The worst possible response would be anger, as it would only further inflate the pomposity that the ad seeks to puncture.

I also find it interesting that the first post-racial candidate, who wants to open a dialogue about race, is supported by people who are extremely quick to pronounce any criticism as racism. Wouldn't you think that the supporters of a candidate who is ostensibly trying to put race behind him would quit crying 'RACISM!' every time there is an effective campaign ad? I wonder how well that method of stifling criticsm and deflecting observations will play internationally if Obama becomes President? Will Ahmedinejad be labeled a racist because Obama asked him stop the Iranian nuclear program and he doesn't? Even if Obama can leave racism behind personally, and I hope he can, it would be a tragedy if the synchophants who trail him into the White House in 2009 brought Political Correctness in as national and foreign policy.

We went to Europe last week for a cruise/continuing medical education thing. Some pictures and a trip report later.

Obama 2008 McCain The+One Wonder+Twins