Fun with John and John

The Kerry/Edwards campaign is producing wonderful blog-fodder this week. Take, for instance, the issue of Senator Kerry's complexion taking on an unusual hue on Monday. If you haven't seen any pictures, suffice it to say that his face is that peculiar tan-in-a-bottle orange. Hugh Hewitt calls it "Oompa-LoompaGate" and polled his listeners for their theories on why Kerry changed colors. One classic:

[...] it is just nature's pumpkin cycle:

Blooms and grows in July.

Turns Orange in September.

Carved up in October.

Thrown out in November.

Over at Powerline, Deacon wonders "How hard can it be to tie John Kerry in knots over Iraq if even Diane Sawyer can do it?"

Senator Kerry is fond of the phrase "secret plan" when alleging dastardly designs by the Bush Administration for its second term. NRO's Kerry Spot gives a run-down. The latest "secret plan" is supposed to be to the detriment of Wisconsin dairy farmers. (Hat tip Hugh Hewitt).

[One of those "secret plans" is about reinstating the draft, a canard that CBS news ran with last night, basing its story on the urban legend circulating via email. Little Green Footballs is on the case, along with Powerline, Captain's Quarters, Hugh Hewitt, and Betsy's Page.]

John Edwards visited New Jersey yesterday, but apparently it didn't go as well as organizers had hoped since Senator Edwards arrived more than two hours late. Steve Kornacki at PoliticsNJ.com reports (via Kerry Spot):

Democrats have grudgingly admitted they’re not happy with the [poll] numbers, but insisted that New Jersey, which favored Al Gore by sixteen points in 2000, would return to its Democratic tendencies after it was exposed to Kerry’s message.

Problem is they had a chance, through Edwards, to get their message out today. In the back of the ballroom was a platform for members of the media. Plenty of New Jersey newspaper reporters were present, as were NJN and News 12. They were joined by the big boys of the broadcast media -- crews from all of the New York network television affiliates, who, together, represent the dominant source of information for two-thirds of the state’s residents.

The New York television reporters were set-up to do live-shots on the early evening newscasts -- 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00 -- which, under the original event schedule, would have included clips from Edwards's speech, along with the image of hundreds of cheering, flag-waving Democrats urging him on.

Edwards's visit still received coverage on the late-night newscasts and it will feature prominently in the newspapers on Wednesday, but staged media events are all about maximizing exposure. In that department, the event seemed like a blown opportunity.

“Tell me about it,” grumbled one frustrated Democratic operative shortly before Edwards arrived. “His only visit to New Jersey and this is what they do.”

Hugh Hewitt comments, "Senator Lightweight had to campaign in New Jersey yesterday --35 days before an election. That was surely in the Kerry plan coming out of the convention." According to the statistics at RealClearPolitics, Al Gore carried New Jersey by 15.9% in 2000. The latest polls indicate Bush and Kerry are nearly tied.