Makings of a Mismatch

Hearty laughs are so scarce these days that political observers should be grateful for news that John Boehner has ordered his House pygmies to attack President Obama directly instead of aiming their fire at Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a "triangulation" strategy.

Unleashing the likes of Eric Cantor and Mike Spence, who launched the effort by taking aim at Obama's campaign promise about earmarks, will remind old timers of the movie, "The Mouse That Roared," in which the world's smallest nation, on the brink of bankruptcy, attacks the US with a handful of warriors in chain mail and carrying long bows, to get attention and some kind of reparations.

Boehner, apparently miffed by the White House emphasis on Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republicans, wants the spotlight back.

“This," he said after rallying his troops, "is nothing more than a distraction created by the administration to take people’s attention away from the fact that they’re going to raise taxes and grow the size of government.”

If the GOP is aiming for comedy, they will get more slapstick from House Republicans, but Limbaugh is better at delivering punch lines.

Update: In the Washington Post Friday, Boehner pushes the blame-Obama charge with an OpEd piece claiming "in a carefully calculated campaign, operatives and allies of the Obama administration are seeking to divert attention toward radio host Rush Limbaugh, and away from a debate about our alternative solutions on the economy and the irresponsible spending binge they are presiding over." Bring on the long bows.

Comeback Kid, the Sequel

Just as John McCain starts his do-over of the 2000 election, Hillary is hoping for a rerun of that 1992 Clinton classic, "The Comeback Kid," but the script and casting present problems.

Yesterdays wins will keep her onstage, but Barack Obama is no Paul Tsongas or Jerry Brown to be overtaken in the late primaries, her timing is off and TV gigs on Saturday Night Live and the Daily Show won't do as much as the 60 Minutes soap opera about Gennifer Flowers did to turn things around back then.

Moreover, this Clinton faces a dilemma her spouse did not have to deal with--the risk of tearing her party apart with attacks on a front runner that the Republicans can put to good use if Obama wins the nomination.

In the red phone commercial and statements pairing her experience with McCain's in contrast to Obama's sparse resume, the former First Lady is on a scorched-earth march that won't overcome the deadly delegate math she is facing and that may damage her standing with a party desperate to wrest the White House from those who have taken the country into a devastating war and on to the verge of economic disaster.

Sequels seldom live up to the originals, and Hillary Clinton is not enough of a political artist to give us a Godfather II.