On the Bus

The New Yorker's precocious Ryan Lizza has nice McCain mash note up this week. I particularly like the cameos by former Bush hand Steve Schmidt:

Steve Schmidt, one of the campaign's chief strategists, is usually perched on a ledge in a corner of the lounge. He is thirty-seven, has a shaved head, and often wears a Bluetooth earpiece, which gives him a menacing and futuristic look. Schmidt worked for the unflinchingly conservative Dick Cheney in 2005, and for California's pragmatic, moderate governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in 2006. On the bus, his role is to play a sort of Ed McMahon to McCain's Johnny Carson. ... McCain's entire conversational style is built on anecdotes, and he often turns to Schmidt to dispense wisdom when the conversation moves into the political tall grass. “Maybe we can get a word of analysis from Sergeant Schmidt?” McCain will say after a question about exit polls or Hillary Clinton's campaign strategy. Schmidt replies with some banal talking points or an extended soliloquy, depending on his interest in the question. Once, in Florida, McCain asked if the enthusiasm of the final rally of the day, in Lady Lake, was a sign of the campaign's momentum. Schmidt looked up from his BlackBerry and nodded: “It is.”

Ryan dubbed Steve "Lobot" during the Florida campaign. You can see why:

Now, add the Bluetooth headset (but keep off the baseball cap):

Voila! LOBOT! (Much as with Lobot, Steve is loyal, silent, and relentlessly on message...)