I don’t know the answer to that, but it certainly occurred to me last night while watching a nervous Obama being interviewed on CNN and Fox. It seems Barack made a very conventional and not “change” worthy mistake that could come back to haunt him, telling a half or untruth by denying he had ever heard his “Uncle” Jeremiah hurling his more extreme Jeremiads. This is almost impossible to believe and even David Gergen – America’s own refugee from the Medici Court – raised an eyebrow. Will Obama be finished by this (and the ongoing Rezko affair)? Hard to tell. But the innocent days of “Hope” and “Change” are now as distant as a Doris Day movie. When I saw the word “Change” behind him on the video screen last night, I almost laughed. Even if he wins the nomination, he will have a hard time selling himself as the second coming of anything.
And Hillary, as everyone knows, has shown scant appeal and is close to the most over-exposed candidate in history. (McCain may be lucky to be somewhat out of view for a few months.)
So what is a poor Democratic Party to do… besides sing for a rock and roll band? With two tarnished candidates lumbering toward the convention, this may call for more drastic medicine. There’s a great old book about baseball by Ring Lardner (published 1916) called You Know Me Al. Maybe everyone should start reading it. It begins this way: “FRIEND AL: Well, Al old pal I suppose you seen in the paper where I been sold to the White Sox…” (It’s available on the Kindle.)
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