What Stood Out This Week - 6/15-6/21

Ready... Set... Go! It's the sprint to the middle! Who'll get there first? And which versions of the candidates are the real ones? Will the real Slim Shady please stand up? Let's see What Stood Out This Week...

The Democratic Candidate

This week, Obama said that he's a free-market guy, he admonished African-American fathers, he supports immunity to the telecommunications corporations, and he says he doesn't want "filth" on the air.

The Republican Candidate

McCain's trying to prove he's no Bush by spending more time in the flooded regions of the midwest than Bush ever did in New Orleans. Oh, you're SO moderate.

This Week's Argument

Obama opted out of public financing, and McCain's accusing him of backing out of his earlier campaign promise to accept public financing if his Republican counterpart would also. Obama says the system's too broken for him to participate. McCain says Obama's a flip-flopper. Hey, if it worked on Kerry, maybe it'll work on Obama, except of course that McCain's done a lot more flip-flopping over the years than Obama, so he might want to avoid pursuing that particular line of conversation.

I don't much care for this decision. Yes, I want Obama to do whatever he can to win, and the fact is, without spending limits, Obama's a financial juggernaut. But because I believe that all private money should be cleared out of public elections, the decision worries the shit out of me.

It worries the shit out of me.

Other Relevancies

Rudy Giuliani's back to do some more shouting about 9/11. When he says it, it just sounds so dirty. Oh, Rudy, say it again...

Vice Presidents, anyone? McCain seems to like the Governor of Louisiana who says there's some good science behind that Intelligent Design. The Obama camp leaked the names of John Edwards and Sam Nunn. I think they're all a bunchy of red herrings.

And that's What Stood Out This Week, dear B&E readers.