Thetans Make Their First '08 Appearance

Romney's favorite novel? "Battlefield Earth?" Really?

For those of you who don't know, "Battlefield Earth" is a novel by freaky-deaky religion-leader L. Ron Hubbard of Scientology fame. John Travolta later made the book into a roundly bashed movie in an attempt to secure his Scientology cred.

Well, that's an odd choice. I didn't hear the question straight from the interviewer, so it may very well have been something like, "What's your favorite fiction read of late," for which this would seem to be a more expected answer than to "What's your favorite novel, period?" But the Martha MacCallum voiceover indicates that the latter was indeed the question.

I'm just surprised. This seems like the kind of thing where candidates would have a ready answer. Something along the lines of "Insert Famous, Beloved American Novel Title Here, add childhood anecdote about how it became your favorite novel by teaching you some important lesson about the American spirit."

On the one hand, I appreciate a slightly more authentic answer, even though I'm not sure it's politically smart. And, after all, it's fiction. The guy should be able to like what he likes, no? Of course, none of that changes the fact that a bunch of people are gonna go, "Eh, he likes L. Ron Hubbard? That's a little freaky."

If I were a candidate (which I'm fairly certain I'll never be), I'd stick with "Of Mice and Men" or something, which though I don't have a favorite novel, is one of my favorites.

Update: Jonathan Martin says the videos of today portend the shadow attacks of the fall.