Sickly Sunday

For some reason I got up today feeling "off"--not actually sick, but a little achey and shivery. And my stomach felt a little unhappy. Not unhappy enough that I couldn't eat some bacon and pancakes for breakfast with DH and my father-in-law. But enough that I couldn't finish the third pancake, and haven't had anything else to eat all day (a rare occurrence for me, to be sure).

I forced myself to do some laundry so as not to feel completely indolent and to feel as if I have accomplished something on this wasted day.

I am only now getting around to reading the New York Times and just read the Op Ed piece by Maureen Dowd.

She notes something that I had been feeling lately but hadn't put into words - that Hillary Clinton is getting cheerier and bouncier while Obama is doing the opposite. In Maureen's words,

"Hillary grows more and more glowy as Obama grows more and more wan.

Is she draining him of his precious bodily fluids? Leeching his magic? Siphoning off his aura?

It used to be that he was incandescent and she was merely inveterate. Now she’s bristling with life force, and he looks like he wants to run away somewhere for three months by himself and smoke."

Unfortunately, she has a point. There have been reports of Obama pleading to just be able to be left alone to eat his waffles, and it seems as if this truly endless campaign is getting on his nerves.

Hillary, on the other hand, has taken a page from her husband's book, and seems to actually be reveling in the campaign.

Does it mean she wants the job more than Obama? Or is it that the endless campaign is part of the "politics as usual" that he'd like to get rid of? (I know the rest of us would, at this point). I'm not saying all the voters shouldn't have their chance to vote, but this campaign kicked off at the beginning of 2007. That is just too long to expect anyone to keep kissing babies, shaking hands, speaking, and eating regional junk food.

Maureen Dowd says, "The Nixonian Hillary has a ravenous hunger that Obama lacks."

Maybe she does, and maybe her "fire in the belly" might be necessary to win in November. It does make me think.

But then I remember what happened AFTER Nixon won. Do we really want someone who wants the office so badly they'll do anything to win?

In other news, we keep hearing how McCain is all for reform - He sponsored legislation saying that the candidates should pay to fly on corporate jets. The funny thing is, however, that when it came down to his own campaign, he used his wife's company's corporate jet - thus avoiding the cost.

Let's hope these little stories of hypocrisy continue to make the news. We don't want the Democratic campaign to obscure all the dirt that has already started to pop up on McCain.

Finishing with some haiku...

McCain's for reform
But when it comes to himself
He likes to fly free.

Now he loves tax breaks
But once he criticized them
Deficit will soar.

Mainstream media
Focuses on trivia
Issues are buried.