A Time for Underdogs

I woke up shivering, like most below zero mornings these days, without any blankets or comforter. The three year old I share my bed with, a beagle named Sausage who was abandoned to me by a friend and client on his way to serve a short jail sentence almost two years ago, had again rooted under the covers sometime in the night stripping me of my warmth. As I engaged in a tug of war in an attempt to get back at least a portion of the covers, my clock radio announced in the background that a beagle named Uno had won best in show at the Westminster Dog Show, the first time this lowly, thieving breed has ever won the dog world's most prestigious honor.

The biggest news surrounding underdogs of late has been from the campaign trail. By that I mean the controversy swirling like a Minnesota winter NW wind between the Democratic presidential candidate camps over who deserved the label frontrunner and who legitimately could go by the more coveted title of underdog. You see, this country loves an underdog.

Unless you lived in New England or were the house in Vegas, you most likely were pulling for the Giants to win the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago. If you lived in Minnesota in 1998 you most likely pulled for Jesse Ventura to win a couple of gubernatorial races ago. If you lived in a primary or caucus state the last few weeks you most likely voted for Obama in the Democratic Party race.

Therefore, it has really been no surprise that the Obama and Clinton campaigns traded barbs this past week over which candidate was the true underdog. I heard Barack on TV extolling the formidableness of the Clinton machine only to hear of heads rolling at Clinton headquarters the very next news cycle. I also heard
Sen. Clinton, sounding a lot like Poor Polly Purebread extolling the attributes and feats of the Democrat's beagle turned super hero, Obama.

Let's see...the Giants winning the Super Bowl and breaking the bank in Vegas, the beagle winning at Westminster, the writers' union winning concessions in Hollywood and Mike Huckabee's resurgence in the South...A time for underdogs indeed!