Candidate quizzes

By Jennifer J. Foster

Need something to do for a few minutes?

Check out the Chicago Tribune’s 20-question quizzes on John McCain and Barack Obama.

I scored 15 out of 20 on McCain and 11 out of 20 on Obama.

Watch out; there are some misleading questions. And some readers might spot bias in some of the questions and answers.

But give them a go, anyway—then come back and tell us how you did.

Obama explains ‘lipstick on a pig’

By Jennifer J. Foster

Since I covered it here Wednesday, I wanted to point out that Obama did directly address that “lipstick on a pig” comment straight out of the gate during his appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman.“ Here’s the transcript of the explanation (see the video here); check it out and see what you think.

Letterman: “Let me ask you a question here. Have you ever actually put lipstick on a pig?“

Obama: “You know, the answer would be no. But I think it might be fun to try.“

Letterman: “I know the reaction to that was, ‘You were overreacting.‘ You stand by that?“

Obama: “Absolutely. Look, this is—if you—this is sort of silly season in politics—not that there’s a non-silly season in politics. But it gets sillier. But, you know, it’s a common expression in at least Illinois, I don’t know about New York City. I don’t know where you put lipstick on here. But in Illinois, the expression connotes the idea that if you have a bad idea, in this case I was talking about John McCain’s economic plans, that just calling them change, calling it something different, doesn’t make it better, hence, lipstick on a pig is still a pig.“

Letterman: “Now what I like about this scenario is because they demanded, the Republicans demanded an apology.“

Obama: “Yes, they did.“

Letterman: “So that means there had been a meeting at some point somewhere along the line.“

Obama: “All of them.“

Letterman: “Yeah, they got together and they said, ‘You know what? He called our vice presidential candidate a pig.‘ Well, that seems pretty unlikely, doesn’t it?“

Obama: “It does. But keep in mind that, technically, had I meant it that way, she would have been the lipstick, you see? But now we’re…“

Letterman: “I don’t know, you’re way ahead of me.“

Obama: “Yeah, the failed policies of John McCain would be the pig.“

Obama on ‘SNL’

By Jennifer J. Foster

If you’re a political junkie, get ready for tomorrow’s season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” tomorrow.

People magazine and CNN report that Barack Obama is set to make his second cameo appearance on the sketch show.

Last time, Obama appeared with lookalikes of Bill and Hillary Clinton. This time, he’ll face off with “Sarah Palin.“

Following Obama’s appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman” Wednesday night, I heard someone remark about how funny Obama is. Here’s one example:

Letterman: Now, let me - your grandmother - 87 years old?“

Obama: “Eighty-seven years old. She can’t travel. She has terrible osteoporosis so she can’t fly, but, you know, she has been the rock of our family and she is sharp as a tack. I mean, she’s just—she follows everything, but she has a very subdued, sort of Midwestern attitude about these things. So when I got nominated, she called and said, ‘That’s nice, Barry, that’s nice.‘“

Letterman: “‘That’s nice, that’s nice.‘“

Obama: “‘I thought that was a very nice speech,‘ yes.“

Letterman: “At 87, are you worried that she may not vote for you and vote for someone maybe closer to her own age?“

Obama: “You know, I, uh, I have been sending her out to some of her bridge partners trying to peel off votes from that demographic.“

Obama’s humor is one of the great untapped resources of his campaign, this person said, and emphasizing it could go a long way toward helping Obama connect with those white working-class voters he’s had so much trouble with.

It appears that Obama’s campaign staff heard that analysis, too.

See also:

Part 1 of Barack Obama’s appearance on the “Late Show.“ Topics include the “lipstick on a pig” controversy, John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin, Palin’s impact on the campaign and whether Obama would have chosen someone else for VP had he known McCain would pick her.

Part 2 of Barack Obama’s appearance on the “Late Show.“ Topics include the September 11 terrorist attacks, what Obama would have done differently than President Bush in the aftermath and what his policy would have been with regard to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Part 3 of Barack Obama’s appearance on the “Late Show.“ Topics include Obama’s first trip to the U.S. mainland from Hawaii when he was 10 years old, humanitarian crises in Africa and Haiti and how an Obama Administration would address such crises.

Letterman also questioned Obama about his pending lunch with President Clinton, which took place Thursday. Other topics included what is next on the campaign trail and an update on Obama’s family. See the transcript of that exchange here.