Will the real frontrunners please stand up? Better yet, will the pundits sit down and chill out?

I don't know about you, but I'm having trouble keeping up with who's winning this year's presidential races.

I think that’s great. I'm enjoying the fact that we have real races for both nominations. It's like watching a horse race that goes down to the wire. And a good reminder to our politicians and pundits that we, the little people, are still here. And voting. Not necessarily the way we’re "supposed" to.

Changing Socks Every Furlong

The pundits? If they were calling the Kentucky Derby, there'd be a new winner every other furlong. These guys come up with a new frontrunner more often than I change my socks. I change socks at least once a day. Maybe we should wait for one of the candidates to cross the finish line. Or maybe I should change socks less often.

Remember six months ago when the pundits said John McCain was done? It was a reasonable assumption. He was broke and lost all of his top staff. Now he's back.

A few months ago many of the pundits were ready to hand the nomination to Rudy. Then he skipped the early contests and put all his chips on Florida. So, he's done. Or so the pundits are saying this week.

Before Iowa it was Hillary and I'm not sure who. After Iowa, it was Huckabee and Obama. Hillary was done. Pack her bags. But the voters in New Hampshire missed the memo about how they were supposed to vote. They picked Hillary and McCain. And we had two new "frontrunners."

But that's old news. Hillary got clobbered in South Carolina and the Huckaboom appears to be turning into a Huckabust. I wonder what next week will bring.

In fairness, things do seem to be settling down a bit. And my socks are getting a little ripe. It appears a good bet -- for now -- that Hillary or Obama will get the Democratic nomination. The question is which one. The pundits are split almost evenly. But during the brawl in South Carolina they were paying more attention to Bill than either of the candidates.¹ It's tough out there.

A lot of the political commentators would like to see Hillary and Obama on the same ticket. A woman and a black man. How's that for change? They just can't agree on which one they'd like to see at the top.¹ That's okay. They may not realize it yet, but it's not their choice. At least I'm hoping we, the people, still get to vote. I'm planning to spend an evening at our caucus here in Colorado offering my two cents' worth.

Spinning Faster Than The Candidates

I have this mental image of the pundits as weather vanes, microphones in hand and with a different candidate coming into view each time they face a different direction. It's Hillary and Rudy. No, McCain and Obama. No Huckabee and . . . well you get the idea. Those guys must all be dizzy by now. They're spinning faster than the candidates.

All the polling and punditry would be funny, except it matters. It affects how much media space each candidate gets, how much money they can raise and how many votes they get. We play this game over and over. Will we ever learn just how silly it is? Probably not.

So, if you can’t beat 'em, I say join 'em. Jerry the Pundit. Who will we be voting for in November? As I see it, it'll be Huckabama versus Giullary. And the winner? Ron Kucinich, of course. Or will it be Dennis Paul? Forget you heard it here first.