The presidential candidates have spent plenty of time introducing and debating their economic polices. For a short-term boost, they should look no further than their own names for help. They are being used to sell products that have nothing to do with the campaigns. And I suspect, in most cases, the gimmicks work quite well.

For the past few days, Medaterra in Woodley Park has been serving the Obama Rama Martini and the Sugar McCain, and advertising the drinks on a sidewalk sign. Both are on the normal menu. The Obama drink is a Banana Rum Martini, with banana liquor, vodka, and cranberry juice, and the McCain drink is fresh lemonade, Stoli and Cointreau.

I called up Medaterra to see how the drinks were selling. In short: good. Martini sales are up overall, estimates waitress Andrea Tehan. “Everyone keeps asking who’s winning,” she says, adding that staff have been monitoring the drinks sales and have noted that the Obama Rama Martini has outsold its Republican counterpart by a 4-1 ratio, despite the McCain drink being more popular under its normal name. Which is to say this entire thing is pretty dumb, and pretty smart from a business perspective.

This got me thinking. Who else has recently jumped on the campaign commerce bandwagon? Read the rest of this entry »

So it could be just me, but a guy’s gotta wonder how McCain isn’t drawing more fire for…just about everything, no?

Okay, perhaps it is just me who gets bummed when Fox wins big in the ratings after accusing Obama of proffering terrorist fist jabs and calling Michelle his “Baby Mama”, when McCain gets a free pass to assert that everyone knows who Hamas wants to be President, when the presumptive Republican nominee hires Steve Schmidt, Bush footsoldier, to rejuvenate his wizened, ailing campaign—this after giving a “full-throated” (phrase of the season) and thoroughly inane shout-out to the current Vice President—when Gen. Wesley Clark finds himself caught in some serious media crossfire for the simple crime of pinpointing the basis of McCain’s campaign and questioning its validity…and when Obama gets accused of elitism and out-of-touchism for his Ivy Leaguesmanship when McCain owns…what, like, thirty houses?

So a rant’s a rant, and rarely adorable. Here’s the question: is the MSM holding out on full-throttle McCain excoriation because:

a. They’re trying to shake their rep of being LIBERAL, or

b. They want to make it an interesting fight, for the sake of preserving ratings and because one of the candidates can’t raise money or adrenaline on his own steam?

Lemme know in the comments. Or, you know, don’t. After all, a fella like me only cares what they say in commie rags like the New York Times.

Meanwhile…Michael Douglass:

Olbermann sampled this speech in a recent special comment…merely proving Aaron Sorkin’s abiding influence on U.S. infotainment.

LL’s stroll through the Wilson Building today was a true walk of shame, after getting scooped thoroughly by Mark Segraves of WTOP this morning on Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s questionable political travel habits—to wit, hauling along paid aides and security officers while politicking across the country for Barack Obama.

However, if LL’s going to get scooped by anyone, that it was by “Mr. Scoop” Segraves himself makes it almost palatable.

So allow LL to give credit where credit is due. And Segraves has affected change, sort of: He is now reporting that Fenty has promised to review his political-travel policy, saying if he’s not “following what [other] big city mayors are doing, then we’ll make an adjustment.”

In other word, Mr. Best Practices admits no wrongdoing, only that he hasn’t been doing what everyone else has been doing.

Bad on ya, Mr. Mayor! Good on ya, Segraves!

Not only did I miss this chance to earn $75 - $200 selling Obama buttons for five and a half hours. I also missed out on a burrito.

With coworker William Atwood Mitchell safely ensconced in the woods of southern Virginia, I find myself the interim chronicler of flailing attempts by the white & wizened columnists at the New York Times to hippen theyselves by synthesizing the pop lexicon.

Today: Roger Cohen, who in his incisive piece on the “Obama Connection” (”Obama uses the internet!  How very 21st century!”) brandishes the following nugget of an analogy in describing the Clinton people:

They’ve been left like deer blinded by the Webcam lights of the Obama juggernaut.

Yes, it seems the days of mixed-trope expurgation have given way to a hypersaturated, superwebby, aggressively hip, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality…sort of like packing as many inane hyperlinks as possible into a blog post, just because you can.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Roger Cohen. His Latin America reporting was serious.  And he’s done some sweet stuff during this campaign.  But come on…does everybody gotta kowtow to the putative demands of an online public?

You know, Roger, we’re not all as hip as you might think….

If Catholics prefer Hillary, and Guam is overwhelmingly Catholic, then how did Obama win Guam? Is it the islander connection—Obama being from Hawaii, which is the New York of Micronesia? Is it, as Slate suggests, that Catholics generally prefer Hillary because they don’t want to support a non-Caucasian candidate—which presumably isn’t an issue in Guam, where the majority of the island’s people and politicians are non-Caucasian?

a Catholic church in southern Guam

I’m still looking for my amusing Christmas photos of Santas riding on Guamanian rooftops, under blue blue skies; they’re around, but have gotten lost on my computer

As a former resident of that part of the world, I have sent off some emails to smart friends involved with Micronesian politics to see what they think about Obama’s seven-vote victory. I’m curious what they have to say about it.

Breaking news from Kokomo, IN: Obama’s got game. But with plenty of folks calling the state a must-win for the Illinois senator, one hopes his rebound skills aren’t confined to the basketball court.

Last night, local cover band Northeast Corridor rocked it for Barack Obama, featuring special appearances by about fifty wannabe rockers. Northeast Corridor (formerly known as Lobster Hamster Hipster, and before that known as 3516: The Band) lost their lead singer, Jason Levitis, to a singing injury a couple years ago, when he broke his voice singing Billie Jean. To handle the crisis, they started inviting audience members up to lead them, karaoke-style. Only except for a bouncing ball, you’ve got a six-piece rock band behind you.

Northeast Corridor has developed a cult-like following of people who like the taste of stardom but don’t want to invest in the diets and the drugs. They play songs we all know all the words to (yes, Eye of the Tiger, yes, Like a Prayer, yes, Smells Like Teen Spirit) (OK, no one really knows the words to Smells Like Teen Spirit, but they do have the lyrics available for singers.) They’ve been playing mostly house parties and weddings, but they played “out” last night at Solly’s on U Street for their cause: Karaoke We Can Believe In.

The band members are unanimous in their support for the Barack-star. Audience members donated $20 each for the campaign. Levitis (who stays on as the band’s manager and to do the rap part on Groove is in the Heart) called Obama the “karaoke candidate” who “lifts up the people’s voices.” And check out this extended metaphor:

The power elite is saying, “This guy can’t rock hard enough. He’s a one-hit wonder. He’s gonna sell out and sing orange juice jingles. He should give up and make a duets album with Hillary Clinton.” But he keeps on climbing the pop charts of the public opinion polls. He fills stadiums with screaming fans. And his fundraising appeals keep going platinum.

We’re still waiting for the chance to have as much fun rocking out with D.C.’s Hillary fans.

Northeast Corridor doesn’t have a website but their next Obama fundraiser karaoke show is Wednesday, May 21 at the Wonderland Bar & Grill.

Photo by Lisa Schectman.

Much has been said about the nation’s adoration for America’s youngest, cutest, slenderest, blackest, most hope-inspiring presidential candidate. Heck, even John McCain’s daughter Meghan called Barack Obama “sexy.” But, for those fans out there who can’t simply live with these truths, now there is a product in which Obama, looking as iconic and dashing as ever, can materialize from the depths right in front of you over and over again: the Obama Drawing Hand screen saver.

Now, this has got me thinking for several reasons. Forget my curiosity over who would actually use this product. Or, how the folks at the office might react. I’m contemplating campaign commerce. This market’s going to disappear in less than a year. The economy’s sinking, and here’s a new niche to exploit. Where are the enterprising young businessmen and women? Read the rest of this entry »

It’s gotta be a slow news weekend if….

The Washington Post’s lead story is a preview of a Supreme Court hearing. Sure, this is an important–and local–one: District of Columbia v. Heller. It’ll decide whether the District’s draconian gun law passes constitutional muster in this day.

*In The Trail, Post staffer analyzes pitfalls of a hard push by Obama in Pennsylvania.

*And here’s an editorial decision sure to get considered in the media jury room known as Fuego/Frio: The Post mag runs a feature on street monuments.

*S.A. Miller of the Washington Times takes apart a bad week for the Dems, sans the glee and gloating that may have been attached to such a story years ago.

*New York Times does a nice job of framing the issue with the superdelegates v. pledged delegates. Seems that many of the former are drifting toward a stance that’ll follow the popular vote in the contest between Hillary and Obama.

First, Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle graced the 2008 election season with its mildly pleasant imaginary Obama scenarios like “BARACK OBAMA DREW YOUR PICTURE IN THE SAND” and “BARACK OBAMA SMILED WHEN HE HEARD ME MENTION YOUR NAME.”

Now, companion site Hillary Clinton Is Your New Bicycle has surfaced to provide mildly unpleasant imaginary Clinton scenarios. Among them: “HILLARY CLINTON IS USING ENDNOTES INSTEAD OF FOOTNOTES,” “HILLARY CLINTON’S AWAY MESSAGE IS GIVING YOU AN UNNEEDED GLIMPSE INTO HER PSYCHE,” and “HILLARY CLINTON ASKED FOR THAT WITHOUT BACON.”

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve read about the Obama-as-rock-star so much it’s now cliche. We’ve also read way too many articles about Obama’s potential to bring about great things like rainbows, free puppies, and awesome healthcare.

But one website offers you a seemingly unlimited list of all the things Obama has done for you personally, what he thinks of you, and what kinds of things remind him of you. It’s hilarious. And I admit I’ve wasted way too much time clicking through it to find out how Obama feels about me, that he told my dad nice things about me, that he loves my laugh, and that he made me a mixtape.

Is the site a parody of Obama’s hype? Or is it a genuine nod at Obama’s likeability? I’m not sure. The site is definitely a great time killer especially on a holiday.

Thanks to this Slate article on Obama’s hipness for referencing the site.