Presidential Pyrotechnics

Ways to spend July Fourth: Go to the Esplanade in Boston to watch the Pops concert and subsequent fireworks. Or debate the actions of our presidential candidates, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain. Why not do both? That’s what Bob and Susannah, plus a neutral cat, do on their Independence Day in the latest episode of “Running Gags”!

Doc Rivers ‘endorses’ Obama

After guiding his team to an NBA championship over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers discussed the victory on WEEI-AM (850). Asked whether his team could repeat, Rivers invoked a motto associated with Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for president.
Rivers and Obama are two African-American leaders who have enjoyed success this year. The Celtics, during their history, showed progressive thinking on race relations. Thanks to the late team patriarch Red Auerbach, the Celtics became the first in the NBA to draft an African-American player (Chuck Cooper) and hire an African-American coach (Bill Russell). This commitment to equality will prove a more enduring testament to Celtic excellence than Tuesday night’s victory over the Lakers (though it was remarkable to watch the 131-92 romp).

Hillary borrowing against time?

Sen. Hillary Clinton is lucky she has over $6 million to lend to her campaign. Clinton seems to think her campaign needs the cash after a double-digit primary loss to her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, in North Carolina on Tuesday and an underwhelming victory over Obama in Indiana the same day. Clinton, the New York Times reports, is fixated on her goal of winning the Democratic presidential nomination.

“[Advisers] to Mrs. Clinton early Wednesday portrayed her as still confident that she can win the nomination through a combination of victories in the handful of remaining primaries and persuading uncommitted superdelegates that she can perform better against Republicans than Mr. Obama,” the Times reported on Wednesday.

There are six primaries left, beginning with West Virginia next Tuesday. Prospects look dim at best and humiliating at worst, but maybe we should have expected that for a politician who’s weathered Whitewater, Monica Lewinsky and impeachment, mounting a struggling political campaign is a cinch.

Wal-Mart makes Obama ‘Scream’

Sen. Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate, has lost the Pennsylvania primary to his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, after Obama called certain red-state voters “bitter” to a San Francisco audience. What can Obama do to mend relations with this demographic group? As he explains to Susannah, Bob has some ideas — which include visiting a certain blue-state nemesis — in the latest episode of “Running Gags”!

Hillary borrows from Lenin’s playbook

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is not quitting the presidential election, and has one more primary victory to add to her total: Pennsylvania, which she won on Tuesday.

Once the star of the almost 800 superdelegates, Clinton’s hold over them may be diminishing as she can’t win convincingly enough to erase the lead of her rival, Sen. Barack Obama (Note: She still leads Obama in superdelegates who have declared their support, 259 to 236). But as calls mount for her departure, she doesn’t seem to be listening.

It was once said of Vladimir Lenin that he won debates by refusing to stop speaking until everyone, exhausted, conceded the argument. “Lenin scarcely noticed his defeat,” Robert K. Massie wrote in Nicholas and Alexandra. “A brilliant dialectician, prepared to argue all night, he gained ascendancy over his Bolshevik colleagues by sheer force of intellect and physical stamina.” Will Clinton’s similar steadfastness outlast Obama’s audacity?

Hillary: Outsourced?

Sen. Hillary Clinton, increasingly desperate Democratic presidential candidate, is trying to tailor a redneck image to attract red-state members of her party upset by remarks from her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, that they like guns and religion and anti-illegal immigration stances because they may be bitter.

Clinton has been downing Crown Royal and talking about her hunting past to woo these voters. (Which is more shameless, denouncing rednecks or pandering to them?) I wonder, however, if this is continuing a losing strategy. As the US keeps hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs, outsourcing American factories to the Third World, the red-staters rhapsodized by Bruce Springsteen and Toby Keith may become a rare, if not extinct, species in this country.

Perhaps Obama is right by focusing on the future instead of a vanishing past. Clinton should pass up the Crown Royal and Smith & Wesson for a latte and a BlackBerry.

Susannah shaves her head for Tibet

In the latest installment of my political cartoon “Running Gags,” Susannah gets her head shaved as a sign of solidarity with the Tibetan protestors of the China Summer Olympics. Others who did this in real life include over 40 people in Harvard Square on Wednesday.

Obama’s courageous response

Sen. Barack Obama has addressed the controversial comments of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — who presided over Obama’s wedding and baptized the couple’s two children — with a thoughtful speech in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Bob and Susannah reflect on the speech in the latest “Running Gags”!

A Buckeye bombardment

Thoughts about one of the sought-after presidential primary states, Ohio, from a visitor and lover of the Buckeye State (Adriatico’s and Larry’s, long life to you both!):

Hard to believe Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton even has a lead there to defend when she’s associated with an administration that passed NAFTA.

Economic platforms could decide the Buckeye battles on the Democratic side. Ohio’s economy is hurting.

Faith might be less of a factor than never-seen-Columbus East Coasters could expect. Ohio voters rejected fundamentalist favorite Ken Blackwell in the governor’s race in 2006. On the Republican side, Arkansas ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee might not want to stress his faith as much as his populism against Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Will racial prejudice affect Ohioans’ decision to vote for Sen. Barack Obama? I don’t think it will be to a greater or lesser degree than most other states. Yes, there were race riots in Cincinnati in 2001. But Ohio Republicans also ran an African-American candidate, Blackwell, for governor two years ago. I think most state voters will consider Obama fairly.

Spring training — the political version

Hey there, all you snowbound New Englanders. Want something to take your mind off winter? Your Boston Red Sox are in spring training in Florida. Want something else to take your mind off winter? Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton are duelling it out in another warm-weather locale — Texas, site of Thursday’s debate. Bob and Susannah discuss these two different kinds of spring training — baseball vs. political — in a vacation-themed “Running Gags”!

Merci to my muse for the idea.