The lack of posts here is an indication that I am seeing the presidential race as ho-hum, same old same old. It’s all rather pathetic at this point, really. Things are much more interesting in the UK as it turns out.
What’s more interesting in politics can’t be seen on American media. Ed Miliband has emerged as a veritable skyrocket, emerging as the Labour Party’s challenge to David Cameron’s conservative party.
As in American politics, Miliband meets the specifications for a successful politician: He has hair, teeth, and is youngish and, on the surface, likeable and engaging. He has a wife, and children. He is agile, and able to change direction as the winds dictate.
It’s interesting to ponder how the challenger Miliband compares to the American challenger Romney (one head of the two-headed Oromnabomney, which will be debating itself later today in Denver, Colorado). Romney’s speech is primarily condemnation of President Obama. Miliband rarely mentions the name of his rival Cameron. Romney has few, if any, details about his plans and proposals, while those details he does disclose rarely seem to check out. Miliband spouts details of his proposals and plans in a river that threatens to overwhelm at times. Miliband and Romney don’t have much in common in their world views either.
That’s what was going on during and after the Denver Debate last week, which coincided with the Labour Conference in Manchester.
Now let’s take a look at the Conservative Conference which is taking place in Birmingham today. I’m watching Ian Duncan lecturing his crowd. Mr. Duncan does not have hair, although he does have teeth. There is some question about Mr. Romney in this regard, though, as he was asked about his hair on “Morning Joe” and replied that he had “glued it down [very well] that morning, and there is no way it’s going to come off”.
What does the O’romney head of the Oromnabomney have in common with Ian Duncan? Well, it’s frightening, really. Mr. Romney, like Mr. Duncan, seems by his speech to be living in the 1950’s rather than the 2010’s. Things have changed a bit since them. The most popular television shows are no longer “Leave it To Beaver” and “Lassie Come Home”.
Yes, the race that’s starting to shape up in the UK is possibly more interesting than the race here in the US. Despite all the bluster and BS, very little can be expected to change regardless of which head of the Oromnabomney gets elected.
The Hair Factor
Now that we’ve disposed of that boring, serious stuff, what about Romney’s hair? Since hair, teeth, and enough maleness to make the occasional female think, however fleetingly, “I’d like to have his baby” seems to be a requirement to be a presidential candidate, let’s take a close look at Romney’s qualification in this regard.
Following multiple glitter-bombings [removed from YouTube due to claims of “copyright infringement”] from gay rights activists in Minnesota back on February 1st, Mitt Romney was swiftly dusted off by his entourage onstage. His son Josh managed to brush away most of the sparkles on Mitt’s shoulders, but as you can see in this video, he balked when it came to touching Mitt’s head — and perhaps with good reason. “I’ve got glitter in my hair, but that’s not all that’s in my hair,” Mitt joked. “I glue it on every morning, whether it needs it or not.” See: Glitter Bomber: Romney Uses ‘Hate’ to Gain Support
Mitt made a similar remark on the “Morning Joe” program about a month ago. It’s interesting to note that the media have not jumped on this, when it’s of critical importance to a small minority of female voters. It raises an important question: do we want a President who gets up every morning, and glues on his hair?