#42 The Mine-Shaft Gap, revisited

But first, a follow-up on Mitt Romney--if John McCain chooses him to be the VP running mate on the Republican ticket--helping to carry Michigan for the Republicans in November: I said previously that Michigan's economy will likely preclude that state going Republican. Here's Adam Wiederman's take on that state's economy in his online column today (July 20) about retirement investments and home equity:

"And home equity? Not a chance. In fact, the job market in Detroit is so soft that the city has been dubbed 'the foreclosure capital of the U.S.' "

Now, today's title. Some of you may have recognized the allusion. During the Cold War, everyone was talking about the "Missile Gap." In "Dr. Strangelove," George C. Scott's character (General Buck Turgidson) was apoplectic about the "Mine-Shaft Gap," the Russians having dug more mine-shafts than the Americans.

Well, an article on July 19 discussed John McCain's preference for town hall meetings (some of which were targeted to undecided voters) to Barack Obama's preference for larger, less informal gatherings. The article's key statement: "In any given period, McCain usually takes more questions from voters than does Obama, either in town halls or other forums."

And so I have to add that this election process has opened up the “questions-from-voters-in-town-hall-meetings gap.”

[triton's note: we have GOT to get something real for the press to write about!]

-- triton --