All of the sudden Mitt Romney's jumped to the head of the pack in the polls in New Hampshire, surprise, surprise. Not to toot my own horn here, but I've said all along he'll be the GOP's nominee. It's not over yet, but I'm sticking to my prediction. After all, he's slick and vacuous enough, and most importantly combines Reagan's Teflon sense of humor and Bush's air of impenetrable entitlement. Romney's not an ideologue, he's an egotist. And for a party that likes its patsies nice and pliable, he's perfect.

If only the press would ignore him he'd go away. But the press can't ignore him. They keep telling us how handsome and funny and charismatic he is. I mean even Harper's couldn't resist putting him—or at least his bobblehead incarnation—on their cover this month...


It doesn't matter what's inside. The more covers Romney's on the more legitimate a candidate he seems, even when what's inside is questioning his legitimacy as a candidate.

Romney's buying his way to the White House should really be a lesson about the failures of the campaign finance game, but if he manages to make it all the way—and there's a very good chance he will—will it be enough to shake up the system? Not on your life. Just the opposite, in fact.  It will be another victory for the status quo.

Why Romney is getting such great press in the Hair Wars is another media mystery. Apparently Republicans can be good-looking, well-dressed, and magnificently coiffed, but when Democrats are they're "faggots". I'll never understand it.

Speaking of. I like Edwards, but it's Hillary's race. She's still leading the pack. And where's Obama? Twenty points behind.  There was a lot of talk this week about him going negative. That'll be unattractive. I mean, the appeal of Obama to white liberals is at least partly the feel-good factor of finally being able to vote for a viable black candidate.

Unfortunately, the first truly viable black candidate has come along at the same time the first truly viable female candidate has (despite what all the Hillary-haters say, she is both viable and female). And poor John Edwards is out of the loop entirely.  Mrs. Edwards was right to lament that "We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman." But Hillary might also fair better were she black, and if Obama were a woman, he'd be unbeatable. So nobody's perfect.

The race versus gender thing is getting people all confused, that's for sure. I'm black. I have to vote for the black guy. But wait. I'm a woman, too. So I have to vote for the woman. But the woman's not black! If only the black guy were a woman! But then I would have to be a transsexual to vote for her! Oh, God, what do I do?!?

Identity politics does have its downsides.

But it's not just a problem for black women, despite what the New York Times says. It's confusing for everyone. These are confusing times. There's been some dispute as to Hillary Clinton's gender (and gender preference), and a lively debate as to whether Obama is really black. Jesse Jackson says he may look black, but with everything from Katrina to Jena, he's "acting like he's white."

As for the race-versus-gender thing. Race is clearly a more incendiary issue than gender in America right now. Men and women, however they may feel about each other, at least live in the same neighborhoods, and sometimes even cohabitate.  Which is more than can be said for blacks and whites, by and large.  So even if Hillary is the devil, as many believe, at least she's the devil we all know. 

But the least confusing candidate will probably win in the end.  Of the Republican field,  Giuliani's a cross-dresser, cute but confusing, so he's out.  McCain still has his lucid moments, but they're getting fewer and further between.  So, once again, we're back to Mitt...