Kudos To You, John McCain

I am not an attractive man. I am fully aware of this fact.

I am old. I am antisocial. I lack any hint of charisma.

This does not bother me. I am not one to be swayed by image.

I feel that I have found a kindred spirit in John McCain.

Mr. McCain recently commented on Barack Obama's celebrity stature, noting "He's the biggest celebrity in the world". I concur with many of his observations. Mr. Obama is popular, attractive, charismatic and eminently likable. He appears "presidential". He evokes "support". He seems "electable".

Why should this be important?

Neither I nor Mr. McCain fit the popular view of what a president should be. We are both easily irritated, crotchety old men. Neither of us can be bothered by the niceties of etiquette or manners or diplomacy. We are not interested in compromise or cooperation or listening or being open minded.

We don't care how we appear.

I know that many people believe in such things. One poll, notes the "enthusiasm gap" between Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama. While Mr. Obama's supporters are excited about the prospect of their candidate being elected, Mr. McCain's supporters do not really care all that much.

Should that matter? I personally do not care about my supporters and I would not expect them to care about me.

We are men of ideas. At least, I assume that he is. I know that I am. I have excellent ideas and that should be enough. I don't know any of Mr. McCain's ideas, but I am sure they have some merit. Particularly those that match mine, if he has any.

So Mr. McCain, I applaud you. Stick to your guns. Make no effort to appease the masses and improve your image. You may not seem like a president. You may seem more like that uncle that one only sees on special occasions and then only every few years that makes everyone uncomfortable and you hope and pray that no one says anything that sets him off and you take all the liquor to the neighbor's house beforehand so that he won't start drinking and you won't have a repeat of that last Fourth of July picnic when the police came.

Think about it.