I still don’t get it.

The trajectory of the race for Oval Office has taken on the force of a speeding missile.

From here on in, every minute is a risk. It actually doesn’t matter who is more qualified for the office.  It could be one moment, one sound-byte, one image and not all of the king’s horsemen in the world could put the candidate back together again.

For example, there was Howard Dean’s infamous yeeeehow!!!  That image looped on the airwaves like it was stuck on replay. Over and over. OK.  What exactly did he do that was so criminal?  Dean was exuberant, sure. He looked a bit crazed, true. In the context of a political rally, his behavior was, as we say in the field of mental health, “affect appropriate to content”.  Did Howard Dean show up at the rally in a drunken stupor? No. Did he make an obscene gesture? How about a racial slur? No. He was exuberant. That’s it.

Then we have Mike Dukakis’ infamous ride in an army tank. Another rolling sound byte that became the joke du jour. Did Dukakis look like an action figure? Yes.  A Ninja Turtle perhaps? I would go with that.  Was the helmet a little too much? Ill fitted to say the least.  But, really, why did that one little image blow his campaign to bits?  It wasn’t like he was riding on the top of a parade float wearing a tiara.  Nor was he riding a Harley dressed in chaps.  He was in an army tank.  Ummm, so what?

So, my friends, it is with great caution that I make any predictions for the upcoming election. As I see it, the paparazzi will decide who will play the part of Humpty Dumpty and all it will take is one image over and over again before someone has a great fall.

I still don’t get it.