Here's the real scandal behind the whole cone-of-silence non-scandal. Per Rick Warren, both McCain and Obama had a heads-up regarding the tougher questions at Saturday's forum. The pastor didn't want the candidates to be struck dumb by the hard ones. Warren specifically cited the inquiry where the candidates had to cite their greatest moral shortcoming and the one where they had to name the three people they most admire who would advise them in the White House.
So Barack Obama had ample notice of the latter, and the best he could come up with is his wife and his grandmother? As my friend Mitt Romney might say, my goodness! Warren gave Obama an opportunity to show he was serious about governing the United States. The senator could have mentioned potential advisors like Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, even Sam Nunn - serious non-politician (not to mention Democratic) people who would indeed be helpful to a young neophyte entrusted with the presidency. Instead he first mentioned his wife, who knows as little about running a country as he does.
As for the nod to his grandmother, are we supposed to take that seriously? Obama and I are roughly the same age, and it just so happens that we have grandmothers who are roughly the same age. Mine, like his I'm sure, is an absolutely wonderful woman. But I'm wary of trusting Grandma with the remote control, let alone the powers of the American government.
On a more sober note, the answer is classic Obama. He could have indicated something about how he would lead the country. Mentioning people like Rubin or perhaps even Ray Odierno would have suggested that Obama is taking his potential job seriously. Instead, he tried for an emotional connection that was also pure rubbish. Does anyone really believe Obama's grandmother will be an important advisor to the Obama administration?
In closing, a bit of free advice for Team Obama - your candidate has gotten entirely too comfortable with this kind of casual disingenuousness. And the electorate sees right through it.
