Tipsheet

The Blandness of Obama

The AP does these "personal side" questions with all the presidential candidates about once a week. Sometimes it's, "What's your hidden talent?" or "What's your favorite TV show?"

For these lifelong politicians constantly battling to prove their regular Americanism, it's a chance to reveal how politicians are "just like us!" Or, at the very least, they get the chance to act like regular Americans. At their best, the answers can be revealing, genuine, funny, and endearing.

This week, the question was, "You're busy on the trail. What is it that's left undone at the house when you're out working?" All of the candidates were wise enough to avoid saying: "Nothing! My butler takes care of all the arrangements while I'm away."

Hillary Clinton said she hasn't organized her closets in a while. Presumably, the skeletons are as big a deterrent as her schedule. Chris Dodd pulls the cute-baby card, saying it's his 2-year-old's late-night tantrums that he's dealing with.

And, what insight do we get into Obama's life?

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama: "Too numerous to list"

The charmer ain't all he's cracked up to be.  Last week, he was too tired to know the  difference between 10,000 tornado victims and 12. This week, he can't even put an answer to the softest of softballs without a multiple choice option.