Wow. Or as my friend Derrick would say, “Wow, wow, wee wow.” Lots of news breaking this a.m. but not much of it has to do with John McCain or Barack Obama besides a whole lot of polls with Obama in the lead. Here in Knoxville the big news is Coach Phil Fulmer not coming back to coach UT football next year. And you know what? I think it’s time. Mrs. Pony’s family members are die-hard fans having grown up with the team and they are genuinely disenfranchised (probably could use a better term when referring to amateur athletics but I won’t) by Fulmer in the 21st Century. Probably the biggest nail in his Big Orange coffin besides his 40 losses since the end of the 1998 championship season is Bruce Pearl, the head men’s basketball coach at UT. Let me explain.
My in-laws and The Ponies went to the UT-Northern Illinois game at Neyland Stadium when the Vols barely squeaked out a win against the visiting team and Tim, my uncle I’ll call him, and my father-in-law Dan on the ride home kept talking about tradition and how far UT had fallen. They also kept bringing up Pearl who has come in and completely rejuvenated the men’s basketball program in Knoxville. Pearl was a winner with nothing but scrubs his first seasons and Fulmer has all the talent in the world, they said. Why can’t Fulmer win with the talent he has on the field? Their answer: coaching. So given that backdrop the clamoring for Fulmer’s ouster reached a deafening level.
Anyway, on to the Weekender, Vol. Deuce — aka “The Gamechanger”.
The Missus and I caught McCain on Saturday Night Live, and the candidate does self-deprecating humor pretty well, which is about the only kind of humor a politician can do (SEE AL GORE, HOT TUB). It’s why I think the Palin appearance was not very good because had it been her standing next McCain during the QVC sketch she would have never rubbed her jacket like Tina Fey did during the joke about campaigns being expensive.
(SIDENOTE: I’ve just spent the last seven minutes trying to figure out how to post the video right here, but short of making an entirely new post strickly for the video I can’t make it happen. Can’t write with ‘em. Can’t post with ‘em. Can’t do it.)
So instead you’ll get the link to the video. And please please please enjoy the Cindy McCain cameo. She’s done some good things philanthropically but when she moves she reminds me too much of a heron stalking minnows in a pond.
Also on Saturday the curious timing of Vice President Dick Cheney offering his endorsement of McCain. IT’S THREE DAYS BEFORE VOTERS GO TO THE POLLS. Now when I think of undecided voters I don’t think of people waiting for what President Bush and Cheney have to say. You think of someone unsure of the direction Democrats would take the country in and unhappy with the direction Republicans have taken. Let’s be clear: McCain wants nothing to do with Bush. NOTHING. Zero times has Bush been on the campaign trail with him. When Bush endorsed McCain at the White House, McCain looked like a cat that had just jumped into a pool: awkward. And as if — yes I did. I sure did. I just used “as if” and you are not back in 1991. — Cheney was actually weighing an endorsement between Obama and McCain? So why now? I feel like it can only do harm.
(The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that a McCain loss gives neo-conservatives and Evangelical Christians a fertile breeding ground for the retooling of the Republican Party. A Cheney endorsement helps put Obama in the White House to deal with all these nightmare problems: economy, wars, debt etc. And the GOP comes back stronger in 2012.)
I also just wanted to note two things my former boss Chuck said on “Meet the Press.” First, he mentioned how if this Democratic landslide happens, there could be 30-50 new members of the House and Senate. It will be a chore to corral all the new members without the institutional knowledge and take on some of these gargantuan problems, he said. This, I happen to agree with. Capitol Hill is a big high school, a thought that is almost cliche at this point, but it’s true. Everyone in the halls is sizing up the next person coming down the hall, and the food is just as bad. The Democratic Party’s legislative discipline if they can get people to stop freaking out will be interesting to watch.
Second, he mentioned that some states, primarily Pennsylvania, don’t have early voting and the Obama camp doesn’t have that bank of votes such as in Nevada to rely on. He mentioned PA because there’s very few scenarios of a McCain win that don’t include him winning PA. Also, lines at polling places could become an issue. Like Corey Haim, could the Obama camp become a victim of its own success?
