The Candidate of The Month Club?

You've got to hand it Barack Obama when it comes to a celebrity endorsement.

Over the past weekend Hillary got an endorsement from the Mayor of San Francisco. If I'd been a member of Hillary's staff I would have told Gavin thanks, but lets not make a big deal out of it. Sodom on the Sea is not exactly heartland America, and his endorsement is as likely to turn off as many people as it turns on - an appropriate phrasing I suppose as far as San Francisco is concerned.

John Edwards got a couple of big celebrity endorsements as well: Harry Belafonte and Sean Penn. That means he's got the calypso vote and most of the folks at S.A.G. (That used to stand for Screen Actors Guild, but has been changed to Silly-Ass-Goofballs to reflect their relevance to American society.)

Senator Obama simply crushed the competition. I'll grant you that fannies in the seats to see Oprah doesn't necessarily translate into Obama votes, but considering the fact that names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and donations of time and/or money were required to get tickets to the event, this was pure genius on the part of those responsible.

I'm not sure if this is democracy at work or just the Mickey Mouse Club redux, but whatever it is, it can do nothing but help Senator Obama. Now before you libs start passing frozen chickens, my reference to the Mickey Mouse Club is complimentary, not negative. It is true that when I "Mickey Mouse" some repair around the house (duct tape required), the phrase does not induce confidence in the trustworthiness of the repairs. In this case however, I'm referring to the marketing brilliance of Disney, a brilliance that's still blinding even today.

Consider the voting population in terms of a swimming pool. There is a shallow end and a deeper end in most pools, and in our voting pool there is quite a bit of shallow water. Not everyone is as afflicted as we are my friends. Regardless of political persuasion, what other conclusion are we to reach when we have such a dismal turn out for elections?

In the shallow end of the pool, it doesn't take as much to roil the waters as it does at the deep end, and right now Oprah is just starting to get her feet wet. The cult of celebrity has always been a player in politics, but I think Oprah brings a dimension to the situation that is above and beyond what anyone else in this country can bring. Don't ask me to explain it, because I've never forgiven her for introducing Dr. Phil to us, but I have the feeling that she will soon be playing a much larger roll in this election cycle.

It's not just the celebrity aspect, because you have to have some substance to go with the smoke and the mirrors. Though I'm in total disagreement with his position on Iraq and abortion, I must admit that Barack Obama has brought something to this election that I had hoped Fred Thompson could bring - excitement and hope.

In the summer of 1968, after Dr. King was murdered, I was one of millions of teenagers who saw in Bobby Kennedy the hope for a better future, even though I was a member of the Young Republicans Club. Once he was killed, I began to question everything about my government and wonder what would cause our nation to writhe in such agony. I became a liberal and voted for George McGovern in 1972. I was so disgusted by our government that by the time we got around to Carter and Reagan that I voted for John Anderson. After four years of Reagan I was changed forever - a thought that horrifies some and makes others nod in agreement.

The point of that brief journey through part of my voting history is this: A President needs to be a leader. Your politics become secondary to the voting population when you can inject and infuse the people with confidence, energy, and most importantly of all, hope. The life long bureaucrats pretty much control the basic operations of government, and our balance of government assures that very little gets done by anyone without a true mandate from the people, so we should never make the mistake of underestimating the importance of "persona" in a leader.

George Bush had it atop the rubble with the bullhorn in his hand, but he lost it almost immediately and has failed to find it again.

Hillary has a "persona", but when half the population would cast you as the witch in the latest stage production of "Hansel & Gretel", that's not the persona needed to lead the country.

There is no other candidate, Republican or Democrat, that is currently capable of creating this feeling. Mike Huckabee may have a shot, but it may be nothing other than a flash in the pan - too soon to tell.

At least at this stage of the game, Senator Obama is getting the best out of a celebrity endorsement that a candidate can expect: plenty of airtime, plenty of print, and plenty of names to add to their database.

Like I said, you've got to hand it Senator Obama, and Oprah may well do that with the nomination.