There will be Barack

The Oscars were on Sunday. I didn't watch because I was on my way back from a weekend in Vegas. Naturally, there were plenty of stories that came out of the trip. I saw Mike Tyson outside of Pur in Caesar's Palace with five bodyguards he could have tore up with his thumb. He's got sides of beef for shoulders and he still speaks with the voice of a brownie scout, but he's put on a few pounds. I told him I could get him in touch with Mike Huckabee, maybe slim him out a little. He didn't get it, just looked at me like he wanted to bite my ear off.

Anyway, I'll leave most of my stories—along with my money—in Vegas. But I will share another piece of relevant info with you. If Barack Obama truly is the young person's candidate, then Vegas—filled to its seedy, immaculate brim with 20-somethings—should be Obama central, baby!

Spurned by journalistic curiosity and a general alcoholic disregard, I asked as many people as I could who they would vote for if the presidential election was tomorrow. Of the 10 people interviewed under the age of 30, five said Obama, 2 said Hillary Clinton, 2 said Ralph Nader and 1 person said, "Roger Clemens but not Barry Bonds."

I asked 20 people over the age of 30 the same question. This was more interesting. 10 of them said Clinton, 3 said Obama, 6 said McCain, and the last told me about a very sinister place where I could stick my question. It should be noted that a majority of the McCain voters play slots and a majority of the Obama voters play craps. Nader's supporters play poker.

You might have missed it but Ralph Nader did in fact enter the presidential race this week, following through on his promise that if Ms. Clinton was running so would he. Today, he endorsed former San Francisco Board of Supervisor Matt Gonzalez to be his running mate. Here is Nader's assessment of Obama in an interview with Amy Goodman.



I can't remember the last time I heard the term "male distribution of power." Probably some time during Janet Reno's tenure.

Anyhoo, Nader is obviously unimpressed by Obama's rhetoric of change. The question from this point until the convention is whether or not the American public is. And of course the answer is a resounding "Duuuuh."

But my question is why. Why does this strike such a cord now when it freaked people out so much in 2000 they voted for a cheerleader. (Then again, Gore's rhetoric was more along the lines of "change or the Earth will melt!)

I began this post talking about the Oscars. It occurred to me while I was looking for a bookie that would accept a four-way parlay futures bet on Sunday's Awards that the Best Picture nominees at least metaphorically linked to the leading presidential nominees.

I couldn't find anyone that would take my bet (BP: No Country for Old Men; BD: the Coen brothers; Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis; Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem), which is too bad because I would have won.

But the thought remained. The BP nominees (outside of Juno) were all incredibly dark, depressing, cerebral pictures. From an artistic standpoint they were all outstanding. But they were hardly feel-good movies; they were more like "feel-Emo" movies. They received great critical acclaim (hence the nominations) but did terribly at the box office. Nobody wanted to see them.

On the other hand, some of the biggest box office successes (Juno, Enchanted) were some of the more cheerful, sunny, HOPEFUL films you'll ever care to see. They simply made people feel good.

Now extend that analogy to the presidential candidates. (Ah, you see where I'm getting at?) Nominees like the tired, dour old Westerns (No Country for Old Men, There will be Blood; John McCain) have the experience, but are a little sparse on the hope.

People would rather see something smiling, fresh and clever (Juno; Obama). That's what gets people excited to go the theaters, enthusiastic to go to the polling booths.

So which movie would you rather see?



Or...



And in case you were wondering: Obama is a 7:4 favorite to be president in 2008.


(May you rest in peace Hunter S. Thompson)