You shouldn't say stupid things.

The Presidential campaign is often compared to an extended (and absurdly expensive) job interview for the highest office in the land.  I think this is generally correct.  People look at your resume, then look to your words and try to gain an estimation of what you would do as President. They try to gain an understanding of your character, whether they can trust you or not. This is why what happens on the campaign trail matters.  Just like a job interview, how you present yourself matters and over the last few days, both Sen. Biden and Sen. Obama have said some very stupid things.

Let's start with Senator Biden, who stated:

"I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy ... and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect... Well, guess what, folks? If you care about it, why don't you support stem cell research?"

To be honest, I'm not all that offended by Sen. Biden's underlying point (that Republican's shouldn't be against stem cell research).  Stem cell research is a legitimate controversy in American politics. However, I am offended by the way Sen. Biden raised this issue: a debate about who cares more for children with special needs.  

Really?  

First, this is simply a no go area. No one should have the cojones to say to a mother of a special needs child that she doesn't care about her child's needs.  Second, it's politically stupid and is just another instance of Sen. Biden spouting his mouth off.  No one is going to really take notice of his true point due to the absurd way in which he presented it.

Next up: Sen. Obama's "lipstick comment". In order to truly understand how silly this comment is, you need to see it in context.  Luckily, YouTube exists:

Sen. Obama asserts two things about this ridiculous comment.  1) That John McCain said it first and 2) that he wasn't really referring to Sen. Palin.

The first point is correct, John McCain used this phrase in reference to Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan.  The difference? Sen. McCain was referencing a proposed law, not a woman. The second justification is simply false.  It's clear from the pause in the speech, the laughter of the crowd, the comparison of John McCain to a dead fish and, most importantly, the allusion to the most-watched speech in vice-presidential history that Sen. Obama was referring to Gov. Palin. Obama called Sarah Palin a pig.

Seriously?  You can talk about so many issues right now (for instance our HUGE federal deficit) but you resort to calling the opposing vice-presidential nominee a pig?

The allusion to the speech might be pithy, but it's juvenile and below Presidential politics.

My advice to all those going into a job interview: don't call the woman competing against you a pig.  It's simple name calling and if you said it in a job interview, you'd be crazy. (As a side note: you'd also be crazy to bring up the issue of which job candidate cares more about special needs children.)

Why are these comments "stupid"? Because, as Obama rightly noted:

"We have real problems in this country right now. The American people are looking to us for answers, not distractions, not diversions, not manipulations. They want real answers to the real problems we are facing..."

We should be talking about the issues, but because of Barack Obama's failure to play by his own rules (the supposed "politics of hope") and his own comments we can't.  You simply can't talk about the important issues of the day if you're busy making fun of the other side with snide schoolyard comments. Point and case, no one is talking about what Sen. Obama said before the "lipstick comment".  This isn't because people made up something about him, it's because of something he said right after it that was at worst sexist and at best stupid!  Even crazier, Obama then has the audacity (some might say "hopeful" audacity) to accuse Republican's of diluting his message when he's the one who diluted it.

The stupidity of the comment raises questions about Sen. Obama's control over his tongue. If he can't control it on the campaign trail, whatever will he do if he ever meets (unconditionally mind you) with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (the President of Iran)? On the campaign trail, a stupid comment only hurts Sen. Obama. In the world of foreign policy a stupid comment by either Joe Biden or Barack Obama could alienate friends and enrage enemies. Yet another reason, outside of these stupid and sexist comments, not to vote for Sen. Obama.

Some time ago, when I was examining Sen. Obama's character, I noted that he seemed as if he was the snide kid in school, a little arrogant, always making fun of the other kids.  It seems that over the course of this job interview, Sen. Obama (and his entire campaign) haven't learned a thing and simply confirmed my suspicions. So let me oblige the good Senator by making my point very simply.

When interviewing for a job you shouldn't say stupid things.

UPDATE:  

Apparently, Joe Biden just can't resist saying stupid things.  According to this article on CNN he just said that Barack Obama would have made a better choice picking Hillary Clinton as vice-president.  

Not that it wasn't obvious!!!