The Phony Campaign

2007-08-22 Update

It's enough to make one lose one's faith in phoniness …

Query StringHit CountChange
Since 8/19
"Hillary Clinton" phony326,000-46,000
"John McCain" phony262,000-28,000
"John Edwards" phony254,000-49,000
"Barack Obama" phony231,000-36,000
"Ron Paul" phony224,000-38,000
"Mitt Romney" phony193,000-47,000
"Fred Thompson" phony162,000-43,000
"Rudy Giuliani" phony154,000-27,000
"Dennis Kucinich" phony103,000-30,000
"Dave Burge" phony57-5

Everyone lost hits over the past three days! John Edwards lost them at a faster rate than John McCain, though, so he dropped into third place. That's especially hard to take, given news like this.


Last Modified 2014-12-01 9:51 AM EDT

URLs du Jour

2007-08-22

  • I put forth some modest proposals last week to replace more traditional aspects of the presidential campaign. Alex Tabarrok has his own: a game show "So You Think You Can Be President?". Of the three proposed segments, here's my favorite:
    Spot the Fraud: Presidential candidates are provided with an economic scenario (mortgage defaults are up, hedge funds are crashing, liquidity is tight). Three experts propose plans. The candidate must choose one of the plans. After the candidate chooses, the true identities of the "experts" are revealed. One is a trucker, another a scuba diver instructor and the last a distinguished economist. Which did the candidate choose?
    One commenter observes: "… now we see evidence of what we've all long suspected: Alex Tabarrok is the academic pseudonym of Alex Trebek."

  • The Union Leader editorializes on the dismal pro-earmark voting record of New Hampshire's congressional representatives. I'm not above bragging shamelessly: you could have read about it nearly two weeks ago at Pun Salad.

  • Lore Sjöberg answers your questions about Life-Hacking.
    What is life hacking? Is it like computer hacking? Is someone going to break into my life? Will my dog like him better than me?

    OK, hold on, one question at a time. Life hacking has little or nothing to do with home invasion. It's the practice of using clever little tips and tricks to make your life easier, more efficient or more productive.

    Really? That sounds kind of familiar. Hasn't it been around for a while?

    Yes, previously it was known as Hints From Heloise.

    But life hacking is different, right?

    Judge for yourself. As I write this, the top entry at lifehacker.com is "10 uses for lemons."

  • … and this made me smile.