Rick Horowitz

Now Twitching with Every Twitch in the Polls

            You know who you are.

            You’re the ones who can’t get this election out of your heads.  You’re the ones who, in this final push to November 4, have the TV and the radio on nonstop.  Who barely have time to watch the TV, or listen to the radio, because you’re also living on your computer, bouncing back and forth from this website to that one for the latest news, for the latest numbers.

            Politico.

            Pollster.

            FiveThirtyEight.

            Real Clear Politics.

"Day One," and Beyond: McCain Isn't Getting Any Younger

             They’re back on that “Ready on Day One” thing again.

            John McCain and Sarah Palin, I mean -- with some unintended help from Joe the Running Mate.  About Barack Obama, that is, and how he’s sure to be “tested” by our enemies around the world, and how he supposedly isn’t ready to be commander in chief on “Day One.” 

            Now, I happen to disagree with them.  (With McCain and Palin, I mean.  Joe the Running Mate -- a.k.a. Joe Biden -- says he thinks Obama will do just fine when the tests come.  McCain and Palin prefer not to mention that part.)  I think Obama is ready -- and, more important, so do individuals like Colin Powell. 

            Leave aside the idea that Sarah Palin, of all people, should be questioning anyone else’s qualifications for high office.  For high-fashion budget busting?  Absolutely!  But for high office?  No way.

            So leave Sarah Palin aside.  (And by now, John McCain may be wishing he’d done exactly that.)

            But here’s the thing:  “Day One” definitely matters.  But so does “Day 100.”  And so does “Day 1000.”

            And you have to wonder:  Is John McCain still going to be ready on “Day 1000”?  And all the days that follow it?

Bush to Palin: Keep It Up!

             Hey Sarah!

            Laura and I were up in the family quarters last night talking about this and that, and naturally the conversation got around to the election.  So I decided if I had a couple of minutes free on the schedule today, I’d drop you this little note.  And I do, so I am!

            I’d probably be telling you the exact same thing in person if I was coming to your rallies, but -- you probably know this -- I haven’t been to too many.  John’s schedule and mine just didn’t work out that way, which is too bad, but I understand.  Not everything goes the way you plan sometimes.

"Spontaneous" McCain: His Gut is His Achilles' Heel

            The word the man used was “spontaneous.”

            You heard him say it, right there on your own TV, and you’ve been thinking about it ever since.

            It was only one word, one moment, in a torrent of pre-Election Day words and moments that all start to run together.  But it stuck with you.  Even as you bounced from channel to channel, from website to blog and from blog to website, from the very latest poll numbers to even-later poll numbers, it stuck with you -- one interview among hundreds, but different somehow.  Clarifying.

            It all starts to run together, but you’re pretty sure this particular interview involved a guy named Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, and you’re pretty sure he was being questioned by one of the NBC O’Donnells --  Kelly or Norah.  (All these months of political junkie-hood and you’re still having trouble keeping them straight!)

Joe the Plumber: And a Slice of Warhol Pie

            Mike the Barber’s in a foul, foul mood.

            He’s in his regular booth at the Character Café, sitting over his regular order:  two eggs, scrambled hard, and coffee, black.  His coffee isn’t the only thing steaming.

            “It coulda been me!” says Mike the Barber through clenched teeth.  “It coulda been me!”

            “Tell me about it,” says Dot the Waitress.

            She’s got that seen-it-all, heard-it-all look on her face, the same look waitresses in cafés and diners always have on their face.  Deep down, though?  A heart of gold.  She tops off his coffee and looks him smack in the eye.

            “You were right next to him, weren’t you?”

            Mike the Barber holds his thumb and forefinger an inch apart.

            “This close,” he says.

            He’s talking about Joe the Plumber.  But he could be talking about life.

Bush on the Economy: Reassuring, Again

            “Mr. President?”

            The voice coming through the bedroom door is gentle; the valet’s job, after all, is to awaken the boss, not to startle him.  If it becomes necessary, he can always turn up the volume.  If it becomes absolutely necessary, he can even enter the president’s bedroom and place a gentle hand on the presidential shoulder.

            “Yeah.”

            It won’t be necessary.  The boss is awake.  His voice -- so familiar after almost eight years -- is still a bit heavy with sleep.  That’s perfectly understandable:  Nights seem to end earlier and earlier these days.

            “Good morning, sir.  It’s 5:15.”

            “Yeah.  Thanks.”

"That One": Anatomy of an Insult

            He had three seconds to pull out of the nosedive.

            Three seconds to take action, or John McCain would splatter right there on the deck of the debate stage at Nashville’s Belmont University. 

            There are some emergencies where, once you’re in them, it’s already too late to save yourself; there’s simply no way out.  And there are other emergencies where, if you’re quick enough and sharp enough (and lucky enough), you still have one last chance to set things right, to avert disaster.           

            This was one of those other emergencies.

            This was “That one.”

Veep Debate: What Sarah Palin Didn't Do

             The camera loves Sarah Palin -- darn right it does! You betcha!

            The microphone?  Not so much.

            Folksy is nice.  I like folksy.  But a little folksy goes a long way with me.  With most people. 

            It’s fine if you’re putting on a revival of “Li’l Abner.”  Hey!  Golly!!

            For running a national government in difficult times?  That’s a different matter.

            And it’s no substitute for...for...

            What’s that word I’m looking for?

            For knowledge.  For knowin’ stuff.

            *   *   *

Tumbling Bush: When 43's at 22

            “Overall, the president’s approval rating has dropped five points from last week and is now the lowest of his presidency. Only 22 percent of Americans approve of the job he’s doing, while 70 percent of Americans disapprove -- a new high....The 70 percent disapproval rating is higher than any measured since Gallup began asking about presidential job approval in 1938.”

                                  CBS News Poll, Released 10/1

 

            In days of old, when knights were bold,

            And no one had a telephone,

            The guys in charge could strut their stuff

            While common folk were on their own.

            If leaders stumbled, made mistakes,

            It didn’t have to take a toll,

            For that was in the glory days,

            Before the first opinion poll.