"Slow Joe Bubba Biden"

As Kathleen Parker points out, Joe Biden has been wandering around making remarks that would make Trent Lott blush, all in an effort to woo South Carolina primary voters. Astutely, she emphasises the importance of authenticity to any successful political effort -- and that's a quality that "Bubba Biden" lacks when he attempts to tout Delaware's history as a slave state.

Come to think of it, authenticity is a quality that every White House contender since Clinton has had trouble projecting (and Americans can be forgiven for doubting the authenticity of Clinton's authenticity). His wife doesn't have it; Al "Man of a Thousand Faces" Gore didn't, either. As for the duck-hunting, "g"-dropping everyman John Kerry, well, the record speaks for itself.

One of the factors behind Obamamania is the frantic hope by those on the left and in the press that they've found a genuine, articulate and authentic liberal.