Obama-Ate-My-Lunch Syndrome

Hillary and Bill Clinton are still recovering from their severe case of it last spring, but John McCain is nearing critical condition from a new virus that attacks candidates in the prime of their political lives and suddenly lays them low--the Obama-Ate-My-Lunch Syndrome.

The symptoms are elevated temperatures of rage and disappointment that strike the victim's sense of entitlement to occupy the White House after being struck down by a sudden fever for someone new.

At last night's debate, the effects could be seen in McCain's agitation and contorted facial expressions as he distractedly mumbled about his long record while writhing in pain over an apparent inability to be heard.

Researchers are finding some correlation with the symptoms of Tourette's Syndrome, which causes outbursts of hostile language, notably in the case of Bill Clinton during its primary stage and more recently evident in McCain's affliction.

There is no medical cure in sight, but doctors are prescribing long periods of rest and abstinence from political exertion.

Race Race: The Final Lap

As his campaign dances at the edge of the subject, John McCain shies away but it is the Obama campaign that is confronting the racial issue directly.

After John Lewis' blunderbuss approach backfired last weekend, it is AFL-CIO leaders who are encouraging "blunt face-to-face encounter(s) to deal with those who say they can't support the Democratic presidential nominee because of the color of his skin."

In Ohio, the president of a government workers' union tells a rally: "(I)t comes out like this: 'I can't vote for him because he is a black man. He's not one of us.' Well, sisters and brothers, when you hear that, you know what you ought to say? This is what I say: 'That is bullshit! That is total, absolute bullshit!'"

The AFL-CIO campaign will make 70 million phone calls to union households in key presidential and congressional battlegrounds and mail 25 million pieces to rebut rumors that Obama isn't a Christian, wasn't born in the United States or was sworn into the Senate with his hand on a Quran. (Mailings show Obama being sworn by Dick Cheney, his hand on a Bible.)

Meanwhile, McCain dithers about race, joining in the William Ayers attacks but dodging questions about hitting Obama with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as less fastidious conservatives like Tucker Carlson are urging him to do.

At tomorrow night's debate, the subject is sure to come up and both candidates will have a chance to drag it out into the open once and for all.

The Financial 9/11

Yesterday's stock-market surge is at least a temporary all-clear for millions of Americans to emerge from the shock and awe that has devastated their financial lives. As they look around at the rubble of savings, 401ks and home values, what are they thinking and feeling?

Across the country, there are reports of victims. "In some places," CNN reports, "mental-health hot lines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand and domestic-violence shelters are full."

In this disordered emotional climate, the wounded will be asked to decide on whom to trust to heal the national economy. Barack Obama and John McCain are offering band-aids, George W. Bush is dispensing bromides, but there is no national figure to "feel their pain."

In tomorrow night's debate, the presidential candidates will be under great pressure to posture as economic saviors in a situation ripe for demagoguery. McCain will no doubt promise to fight our way out and Obama to think through the disaster, but what voters will be searching for, more than ever, is empathy and trust.

The financial rescue farce of the past two weeks has made politicians of all stripes look foolish and impotent. Congress wasted valuable time arguing over Hank Paulson's now-abandoned plan to buy bad mortgages, then loaded the bill with pork and, only incidentally, added provisions that now are seen as the best answer to the crisis--putting money into banks and taking equity positions in return.

How much of the market panic could have been avoided if American politicians had acted with the ultimate good sense of Gordon Brown and the British, who have led the way out of the mess, at least temporarily?

There is no time now for postmortems, but McCain and Obama would do well this week to offer, not nostrums, but convincing evidence that they will rely on the best experience and judgment when the next disaster strikes.

The Demeanor Debate

John McCain spent 90 minutes tonight telling voters Barack Obama "doesn't understand" what America is facing, as Obama demonstrated a broad grasp of the 21st century issues besetting the economy and national security.

Body language was revealing in McCain's tight grin that occasionally morphed into a smirk under criticism, while Obama featured a relaxed smile and at least half a dozen times responded with a generous "John is right, but..."

Behind the difference in demeanor was the familiar clash of experience vs. change that is at the heart of the contest, with McCain distancing himself from Bush-Cheney and impressively name-dropping world leaders (but getting wrong the new president of Pakistan) to persuade voters that Obama is too naïve to deal with a dangerous world.

There was no defining "gotcha" moment but, in light of Obama's need to show persuadable voters that he has the intellect and disposition to occupy the Oval Office, he made progress as did McCain by appearing forceful and knowing to offset doubts about his age and hair-trigger temper.

Most of the time, the candidates talked past each other but after McCain had hammered away at the need to cut government spending, Obama confronted him with:

"John, it's been your president who you said you agreed with 90 percent of the time who presided over this increase in spending. This orgy of spending and enormous deficits you voted for almost all of his budgets. So to stand here and after eight years and say that you're going to lead on controlling spending...is, you know, kind of hard to swallow."

What is unknowable is how the debate affected the unspoken subtext of this election--race.

The site itself was a third presence tonight, the University of Mississippi in Oxford, where 46 years ago Army troops surrounded James Meredith as he integrated "Ole Miss" amid riots and bloodshed.

Meredith himself, who later became a Republican on the staff of Sen. Jesse Helms, is a cranky reminder of the complexity of race in the South. He declined an invitation to the debate. "My wife and son will be there," he told the Washington Post. "I'm taking care of the grandbabies."

But those of my generation can't overlook the history that, when Meredith entered the university, the interracial marriage of Barack Obama's parents was illegal there, and that John McCain's great-great grandfather had owned a plantation nearby.

Almost half a century later, things have changed but race is still an issue there and in much of America and will affect the result of this election, no matter how well the candidates performed tonight.

Three Speeches on an Historic Night

The sight of Barack Obama actually being named presumptive Democratic candidate for President, no matter how expected. is astonishing to eyes that saw black people forced to ride in the back of buses and send their children to segregated schools and attacked for daring to exercise their right to vote. But then came the speeches.

John McCain elbowed into Barack Obama's moment of triumph with a Back-to-the-Future revival of his 2000 straight-talking self to distance himself from Bush and belittle the man who made history tonight.

Hillary Clinton delivered what was expected to be her concession but turned out to be a victory speech and a valentine to herself that barely mentioned the opponent who had taken the nomination from her.

Then Obama came on to eulogize Clinton's campaign, praise McCain but deplore his record of supporting Bush, and then lay out his own vision of a new America.

The contrasts in style and substance were telling. McCain with a straight face painted himself as the candidate of change while demeaning Obama. "I don't seek the presidency on the presumption I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need," he said. "I seek the office with the humility of a man who cannot forget my country saved me."

Clinton praised herself with abandon. "Because we stood our ground," she said, "it meant that every single United States citizen had a chance to make his or her voice heard. A record 35 million people voted in this primary...And I am committed to uniting our party so we move forward stronger and more ready than ever to take back the White House this November."

No mention of who will actually be moving in.

Obama, after a long tribute to Clinton, took on McCain: "I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign...It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year."

The Democratic candidate-to-be said he looked forward to debating McCain on policies and positions, "a debate that the American people deserve--on the issues that will determine the future of this country and the future of our children.

"But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon. What you won't see from this campaign or this party is a politics that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to polarize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first."

Let the debate begin.

Health Care Slum: Tear It Down!

If Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were deciding who dies and who gets maimed in Iraq, there would be a public outcry. Why, then, is it acceptable for HMOs and insurance companies to make those decisions for Americans at home?

In all the talk about health care, none of the ’08 White House aspirants has been willing so far to take a wrecking ball to the termite-infested structure that has been deteriorating for half a century.

The slum lords, who take one out of every three dollars collected from the victims, are interested only in profits, some of which they use to lobby against any attempt to provide decent public housing instead,

As Clinton, Obama and Edwards duel over their palliative remedies and the Republicans snarl about “socialized medicine,” there is no serious debate about extending the Medicare model, which works well for older Americans, into a single-payer system that would provide better care at far less cost.

If all the moviegoers who are enjoying their righteous outrage after seeing “Sicko” would demand it, we could have a serious discussion instead of sound bites.

Will any network will step up and offer the time for it? From the sampling of YouTube videos so far, there would be no shortage of good questions.

"American Idol" Debate

The YouTube questioners tonight were more inventive and at times funnier than the usual MSM suspects, but the candidates, egged on by an applauding audience, were even more preening and self-congratulating than usual.

Book-ended by Mike Gravel’s scolding and Denis Kucinich’s certainty about everything, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd were selling their hundred years of experience as Senators, Bill Richardson was pushing his claim that Governors were better bets, John Edwards was fervently sincere and uxorious, Barack Obama kept reminding everybody he was against the war in Iraq before it started and Hillary Clinton was oozing leadership by being firm while patronizingly patting the also-rans on the head for being good little Democrats instead of bad old Republicans.

With Anderson Cooper as the amiable M.C. of the variety show, detailed answers to substantive questions would have spoiled the fun. Next: The candidates trade one-liners with a panel of Leno, Letterman, Bill Maher and Jon Stewart.

Debating by the Book

Disingenuousness is always in the air at Presidential debates, but tonight’s Democratic do promises some new wrinkles.

For a start, the network announcement makes it sound like a book promotion: “Inspired by the book The Covenant with Black America, the All-American Presidential Forums on PBS marks the first time that a panel comprised of journalists of color will be represented in primetime. Many of the questions that will be asked of the candidates focus on key domestic priorities that were originally outlined in the book.”

The moderator will be Tavis Smiley, a talk show host who edited the best-seller. “Immediate public feedback on the performance of the candidates,” PBS notes, “will be conducted by noted pollster Frank Luntz.” Some Democrats would describe Luntz more accurately as a Republican hack who twists words to deceive voters.

In this setting, the candidates will be tempted to sell the sincerity of their concern for African American voters. The real test will be how well they restrain the intensity of their puckering up and address issues in realistic terms that won’t insult the intelligence of their audience.

YouTubing to the White House

In 1992, Bill Clinton made history as the first Presidential candidate to appear on MTV, play the sax and answer questions about his underwear. Some political observers think it’s been downhill ever since.

But that will seem like ancient history next month when the Democrats have the first YouTube debate ever on CNN, with viewer videos replacing reporters to ask questions and, more than likely, offer visual montages for candidates’ responses.

What we can expect may be foreshadowed by some of the YouTube golden oldies--the “1984” portrayal of Hillary Clinton as Big Sister, the “I Feel Pretty” accompaniment to John Edwards’ hair styling and, just this week, the “I Got a Crush on Obama” music video.

Forgive an old killjoy for asking: We may get a lot of youthful self-expression, but what the hell will any of it have to do with picking someone to run the country?