The Next Cover of People Mag?

Via Wonkette, easily the funniest thing I've seen in days:



I hate McCain-age jokes, but, wow. Just, wow.

Celebrity Watch!

From Politico's JMart:

Joined by their spouses, John McCain and Sarah Palin posed for a PEOPLE magazine photo-shoot after their Dayton rally.

Photos of John and Cindy McCain and Sarah and Todd Palin were taken under elaborate lighting in a conference room upstairs from the Wright State basketball arena.

According to a staffer for the widely-read lifestyle magazine, they will appear in next week's issue.

Um, isn't that a celebrity magazine? Isn't Palin, like, in her 40s with no executive experience? Does McCain doth protest too much about Obama's celebrity status?

Who needs Brangelina or the Jonas Brothers when you have steamy-hot political action like this?

Well-played, my friend....

So, I can't believe how dumbstruck I am by this Sarah Palin VP pick. I have nothing coherent to say or think. Basically, I'm hoping that you can't rise to the top of the sludge-fest known as the Alaska GOP without getting pretty dirty.

That said, this seems like a strategic masterstroke from McCain. Who could be further from DC and the Bush folks than a 44-y-o female governor from freakin' ALASKA?

But let me also add that McCain's history hasn't been good when he's around young, powerful, attractive women. Is that you, Vicki Iseman?

UPDATE: A pretty banal speech to introduce yourself to the American people, in my opinion, but the themes were great. If they can hit the "reform" angle without people laughing in their faces -- as folks should -- then this race will be damn close.

Play Freebird!!!

It's hard to gauge the long-term impact of a political convention as it creeps along. The vagaries of the speaking schedule and the inherent pundit bluster that accompanies it makes it nearly impossible to get a sense of what sticks, what themes broke out of the pack, and what lines are truly memorable.

Now that the DNC is over, though, I think it's pretty clear this entire convention was premised on "John McCain is the 20th Century, Obama is the 21st." With a bit of hindsight, it seems obvious (and makes cell-phone mogul Mark Warner's speech all that much more of a snoozy missed opportunity). But the theme wasn't completely clear until Obama's speech last night. The head-long attacks on McCain's judgment and readiness were inspiring and refreshing -- and sought to put the philosophy and policies of Bush in the past.

That said, here's a "Greatest Hits" of what I thought were the most successful one-liners of the convention (since the long-term takeaway of an event like this can only be measured in "general theme" and "great burns.")

My favorite under-covered line came from my new favorite governor, David Paterson. It is viciously cutting and perfectly mocking:

"If [McCain] is the answer, the question must be ridiculous"

In what I thought was the best "let's hear from regular people" segment I've ever seen at a political event, the last line was the best (uttered by perhaps the least telegenic person ever on prime-time network TV):

"We need a president who puts Barney Smith before Smith Barney."

A very smart line by Hillary that should be picked up in every Dem press release next week:

"It makes a lot of sense that next week John McCain and George Bush will be together in the Twin Cities, because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart."

Can't believe I'm saying it, but Hillary had another great line, using her much-improved rhetorical skills (and her unbelievable tenacity) to give life to Harriet Tubman:

"And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice. If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If they're shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going."

This was the moment Joe Biden's speech reached a new level. It is an encapsulation of everything that makes me a Democrat:

"My mother's creed is the American creed: no one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you."

Bob Casey Jr., a symbolic speaker in his own right, had a great line making McCain "Robin" to Bush's "Batman":

"John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush more than 90% of the time...that's not a maverick, that's a sidekick."

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius showed why she isn't the VP pick by stepping on what should have been a heck of a line:

"John McCain's version: There's no place like home...or a home...or a home...or a home...or a home..."

And Michelle Obama had, I think, the most humanizing line on Obama -- one that every dad in America can relate to:

"He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rear-view mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love."

But, of course, the line in the convention that I thought had the most long-term heft, the ability to raise it above the fray and be remembered for decades, came from my boy Teddy (echoing his stunning 1980 convention speech):

"The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on."

Mock, Mock,Mock...Mock, Mock, McCain

I really love mockery as a political tool. It's one the Dems are so loathe to use, thinking it degrades their high-minded appeals for logic and truth. Bullshit. Mockery is often the truest form of political speech, calling out nonsense when it needs to be called out. Some arguments are just so stupid that they needn't be dignified with a real counter-argument. They just need to be laughed at.

The folks over at Brave New Films have perfected the biting-yet-truthful mockery of Republican bafoonery in recent years.

Glad to see the Obama camp is hopping on board the mockery train, too (though this ad oddly makes me think of this scene from the Harrison-Ford-amid-the-1980s-Amish movie, Witness):

So Fresh and So Clean (and So Articulate)

I'm loving this Biden pick. Straight up. No reservations.

Frankly, I'm confused a bit by the seemingly tepid response among Dems and left-leaning independents. Everything that people are complaining about the pick -- it made Obama look weak, Biden's loquacious manner, his on-the-record racial gaffes -- are all the things that I find most compelling.

Let's take them one at a time....

1. This Pick Makes Obama Look Weak (as aptly stenographed by Ron Fournier of the AP -- and nearly of the McCain campaign!): I think that the fact that Obama recognized he has a slight foreign policy hole in his resume was refreshingly humble. My friend Gabe kept marveling this morning at Obama's "humility." That seems like a fair way to describe it. The reality is that we are in the midst of two wars and Russia and China are on the verge of superpowerdom. Americans can legitimately feel wary voting for some guy with no foreign policy credentials. Obama thought it important to assuage their concerns -- even if it may intensify the spotlight on his own potential shortcomings. To me, that projects strength and confidence, not weakness.

2. Biden Talks A LOT: Well, no shit. But what I love about the way he talks is that he's always bringing you somewhere. John Kerry droned, looping in and out of Senate-speak. Biden, on the other hand, zooms and zips and keeps you enthralled. Plus, he can rip your throat out rhetorically. Talking for talking's sake is dangerous. Having a lot to say, on the other hand, is admirable in a VP.

3. Biden has a "Clean and Articulate" Problem: I find this to be one of the most compelling parts of the pick. Obama's raison d'etre is, in many ways, his desire to see the nation move beyond paralyzed and polarized racial politics. Biden has a history of making unfortunate gaffes when talking about race. But they all come in the form of a bungled attempt at speaking truthfully and optimistically about the future of race relations. (see Indians at 7-11 and black kids in DC schools for two examples). By choosing Biden, Obama is making it clear that what he most values are the principles undergirding people's efforts. Sure, we all may speak ineloquently at times about race...but that is far preferable to ignoring the hard issues of race relations altogether, as the GOP, the traditional press and far too many Dems choose to do. The American people can and should accept honest, open and, at times, awkward discussions on race. Obama has just opened that door...in a way only he could.

 

Can I Get My Purple Haahht at Fenway?

Apparently, John Kerry is involved in a bit of race for his Senate seat in my homeland of Taxachusetts. I can't believe he'll get under 60 percent when all is said and done, but it's at least forcing him to make some ads. And some damn good ads, at that.

This ad starts as a pretty straight-forward pro-vets piece that, frankly, borders on using a our armed service members for political purposes.

But in the second half, Kerry shows why he continues to win in the Bay State. Most of the second half of the ad takes place in Fenway Park, and the soldier is grinning from ear to ear. As important as all the benefits and public policy pieces are, you could tell that throwing out the first pitch at Fenway is going to be a story this soldier is telling for the rest of his life. Bringing simple, unmitigated joy to the life of a wounded vet is one of the best things a politician can do. My favorite part, though: "Oh yeah, and the Sawx won 8 to 3."

Kerry gets it....

Maury! Maury! Maury!

I'm still sorting through the whole Edwards debacle...and I think I'm coming closer to point of view of "who the hell cares?" In reality, I do care. But I also never thought JRE would be president and never supported him as anything more than a potential poverty czar, so I don't feel particularly betrayed personally.

That said, c'mon, it's his baby.  I just wish he would stop lying. You don't have your finance chair pay off your recently-pregnant-mistress and her alleged baby-daddy unless it's your baby. And this public offer of a paternity test -- quickly struck down by Rielle herself -- was such sanctimonious pablum. I don't even care if it's his kid, but it's weird to continue to lie about it.

I just hope this all ends soon.

And, yes, Ted Stevens is a horrible, horrible person who should have his name dragged through the mud for weeks on end on the cable networks. If he had only paid off a secret momma with that bribe money instead of adding an extra floor on his kinda-crappy home (see below), maybe we could get somewhere.

Bad media. Bad. Go to your room.

Oooohh! Fun Game!

Can you find the piece of shit?


Good for you.

Update: Wow. Just, wow.

Edwards today admitted the National Enquirer was correct when it reported he had visited Hunter at the Beverly Hills Hilton last month.

The former Senator said his wife had not known about the meeting.

Since becoming pregnant, Hunter has lived under assumed names in a series of expensive homes in North Carolina and, more recently, in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Edwards denied paying any money to Hunter to keep her from going public but said it was possible some of his friends or supporters may have made payments without telling him.

Smarter than me?

Hmmmm....The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder hits on the trend I wrote about last week: McCain's commercials, sans sound,look like they are actually commercials for Obama -- the glowing shots of Obama, him smiling and waving, lots of cheering crowds.

But maybe the McCain camp is smarter than I thought, though. First, watch this commercial with the sound on:



Now, watch it again with the sound off.

Pretty striking, eh?

My premise -- and apparently the premise of Reagan image-maker Michael Deaver -- is that the visuals are most important in the ad and create the takeaway much more than the audio. And, in fact, this most recent McCain ad looks ENTIRELY like an Obama ad. If you aren't paying too much attention, it actually looks like that smiling Obama is endorsing "Painful Taxes" and "Hard Choices for your Budget."

It's fascinating how much McCain's camp has already given up in presenting a positive set of reasons for his candidacy. Now, they just seem to want to confuse voters. I wonder how long until McCain starts wearing an Obama mask and popping out from under children's beds to scare them.

BOO!

Where's the Gamechanger?

My friend (and top-notch short story writer) Henry asked me if I had an opinion about Obama's recent policy shifts:

What do you think about Obama's flip-flop on opening up the oil reserves to lower the price of gas? Is this the beginning of a wider understanding that Obama has many traits of the typical politician rather than a gamechanger? Is this a good thing?

I have no defense for the oil reserves nonsense. It is such a canard...and no one in Obama's camp honestly believes it will help much short-term or is at all the smart thing to do long-term. I would have much rather seen them push the "off-shore drilling is a giveaway to Big Oil" line harder and more consistently. That argument is a winner and has the nice added benefit of being true.

But the underlying question still holds. Is Obama really the game-changer we all hoped he was?

I think the answer is yes, provided you had relatively modest expectations for what changing the game would mean. I personally never expected that he would completely ignore political reality and the deeply ingrained political narratives that dominate so much of the presidential race.

What I did expect, though, would be that he would try to move the national discussion in a more thoughtful and empathetic direction. In that vein, he's already succeeded. His speech on race in America was one of the most thoughtful political speeches I've ever seen. And his discussions on fatherhood, women's equity and community development have been invigorating.

I also think it is hard to truly judge Obama's "game changing" capacity in the doldrums of August. Basically, the time between the end of the primaries and the convention is all about shaping your public perception...and avoiding having your perception shaped for you. This is particularly true in the case of Obama, who is more vulnerable to having his public persona twisted because he is relatively new to the scene. Mostly, he wants to emerge from the Dem Convention as a viable, reasonable, electable candidate.

The true test will come after the conventions. Will he continue to fudge the edges of his policies for political expediency? Maybe a little, but probably less than now. Once people are really paying attention and he can lay out his thoughts for himself (not as chopped up in the 24-hour news cycle), I think he may show flashes of that game-changing capacity, getting us to focus on the big problems facing America and beyond the petty bullshit the McCain camp has offered the past couple weeks.

And, frankly, having an African-American, policy wonk, constitutional law professor, charasmatic mega-celebrity as the Dem standard bearer is already changing the game quite a bit.