John McCain, Cosmic Jokester
            

            Margo,

            First Prudie, then America. If McCain can win over the hearts of readers
sitting in Harvard Square, then I suppose he has a prayer.

            What you and Kurtz say about McCain rings true. Last week, I trailed McCain
to a town-hall meeting in New Hampshire. If he had a big band and a chubby
sidekick, you would have mistaken his speech for the opening monologue of a
late-night talk show. Here's an excerpt from my notebook:

            

               I'd like to introduce some of the people we have with us here today. ...
Yes, there's Mr. Dan Rather of CBS News. Could you stand up? If any of you have
any problems with socialist, pinko commie bias of his news organization, you
know where to take up your complaints. ... Is there anyone here from the Army?
We won't hold that against you.

            

            Every line is a wisecrack. And it's delivered in a deadpan style that seems
clearly borrowed from Johnny Carson. Much of it is a gallows sense of humor. He
is somebody who has seen the worst of life and knows that much of the garbage
he deals with in Washington is a part of a cosmic joke. All of which leads me
to believe that reporters have been asking the wrong question about McCain. We
have had presidents with tempers before, but have we ever had a president who
is this glib? Bob Dole certainly considered his campaign a joke, and Lincoln
had an ability to laugh off problems. But at the end of the day, Lincoln was a
somber guy and Dole was a horrible candidate. Being president is a serious
business, and I wonder if it's wise to install a jokester as leader of the free
world. ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall and remove that splotch!") Perhaps
the answer is yes. I am undecided on the matter.

            Meanwhile, the National Review online is reporting that a Dean
Acheson anecdote McCain has been telling in debates is wrong. (Someone's
research team must have been working overtime on that one.) "Candor" and
"accuracy" are apparently not synonymous.

            So Prudie, give us a book report and tell us, who's smarter: W. or Esther
Williams?

            M. Honey