Wheels are down

By the way, can Dome tell us if the Clinton campaign event in Raleigh was open to the press?

It's a good thing Dome isn't covering any of the campaigns in South America. Down there you have to wait even longer for someone to show up, or for that matter, for dinner to be served. You practically have to take a siesta in the middle of the day whether you're sleepy or not because if you don't rest up, you will fall asleep waiting for the evening activities to begin.

On the other hand, once things start to happen--at dinners, parties or other social and cultural outings--it's loads of fun. And if Dome were sauntering along the streets of Buenos Aires or Santiago, he (she, it, they) could sleep in just a bit the following morning, and, don't forget, once you make it to lunchtime, then you can catch up on the Z's lost the night before by taking another siesta while you wait for the next evening's schedule to unfold.

But tell us, Dome, since you are so keely aware of the social graces of high policking in these here parts: isn't it considered bad form socially for a candidate to stage a high-profile event in the home state of a competitor? How is Johnny Edwards supposed to get back and forth from Iowa to Creedmoor or Apex without getting into trouble out there in River City, and that's "Trouble" spelled:

"T for time to hit the Iowa caucus rallies.

"R the Des Moines Register, which endorsed Hillary Clinton instead of John Edwards.

"O for Ottumwa, Radar's hometown.

"U for the ubiquitous press corps which will be waiting to report each candidate's every move.

"B for breakfast speeches, which better be sharp in these last two weeks.

"L for leftovers on the candidates' meal plates which might give some locals the idea that a presidential hopeful did not like the local cuisine.

"E for Edwards' opponents, who will be trying to pass him out there in the cornfields if he were to come to North Carolina this week the way Bill Clinton is able to.

Yes, folks, the Iowa caucuses are a little bit like Andy Griffith's "What It Was Was Football" only these presidential candidates are trying to get from one end of Iowa to the other without either getting counted out by the pundits or committing a faux pas on national TV.