Frémont to McCain

Another Indian summer day today, but scheduled to be the last one. We discovered a cricket inside the house today and I managed to capture it -- which was no small trick -- rather than dispatch it on the spot, since I didn't consider it a vile pest trying to infest my living space. I returned it to the out-of-doors, which is only a short reprieve for the creature.

The Onion had a fun raft of headlines today, including "Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job," "Voting Machines Elect One of Their Own as President," "Hillary Clinton Resumes Attacking Obama," and "McCain Gets Hammered at Local VFW."

It must sting now, but Sen. McCain is joining notable company in the Republican Party, going all the way back to John C. Frémont, the Pathfinder and 1856 nominee for the presidency. The list also includes such luminaries (and I'm not being sarcastic) as James G. Blaine, Charles Evans Hughes, Alf Landon, Wendell Willkie, Thomas Dewey, Barry Goldwater and Bob Dole, just to name losing candidates who never were or never became president. One could do worse.

As for the president-elect, no one can tell how any particular presidency will turn out, but I feel optimistic about the potential achievements of a well-spoken Chicago pol who managed such an astonishing rise from obscurity. Also, I have to be cheerful at the thought of a chief executive who was born in 1961, has a funny name, and is the father of two daughters. And who seems to enjoy a good bumper-car ride.