Name Brand Politics

I love this story about Frank and Fran Powers. Although the "kid" (47) says he's a committed Libertarian, I think he knows that he's simply in a unique position to deliver this seat to the Democrats by creating ballot confusion. He runs an indie rock label, for chrissakes.

This is similar to the reason why Mark Warner has nothing to worry about in his Senate election. He's running for the seat held by John Warner, who is a completely different guy, from the other party, and likeable too. Pollsters have even confused them.

As I've said before, I have a little firsthand experience with this, and it is part of the reason why we have George W. Bush. Part of Bush's original appeal as a Republican nominee in 2000 was that he polled well with women. Well, I was one of the people conducting a poll that asked Republican women about potential nominees and I can assure you that many of those who answered the survey were elderly and thought that they were talking about his father.

If the Democrats really want to get into Rove-style tricks, they should try to get various McCains nominated by the Green, Pacific, Reform, Libertarian, Natural Law, Lyndon LaRouche, Anarchist, and Fascist parties. Not that the Dems can actually support that, but for any McCains out there, this is your chance.