While Barack Obama yesterday was making a routine campaign stop in Berlin, John McCain surprised everybody when he held an unannounced press conference in front of some milk. One can only assume that the appearance was kept under wraps because McCain wanted to avoid the speculation of pundits in advance of such a dramatic and politically charged appearance.

But when video of the supermarket appearance hit TV screens, and America saw the Republican nominee speechifying before a backdrop of butter, sour cream, even pudding, more than a few voters who still believe that presidents aren't chosen until election day were sure to have wondered, "Just who the hell does this guy think he is?"

What he said wasn't important. It was the pre-wrapped processed cheese just over his right shoulder to which we were supposed to pay heed, positioned almost as if Kraft Singles were about to be announced as his running mate.

One can argue that the dairy aisle photo op was nothing more than smart politics, putting McCain in front of iconic imagery that is charged with all the stuff that makes a candidate a winner. Dairy equals purity, and McCain is surely trying "own" that purity. What does one think of when one sees a milk carton in a refrigerator? That's right, runaways. The youthful, maverick spirit of the teenage runaway taking to the road to find out what America has to offer is exactly what McCain is trying to sell to the American voter. "Vote for me, America," McCain was saying. "Together, we'll climb into the back of a van and go someplace where our parents (the Bush regime) can't hurt us anymore." Undeniably great politics.

But was it cockiness? Forget for a moment the many historic addresses that elected, sitting presidents have delivered in front of string cheese. How must the sight of McCain orating in the dairy aisle have appeared to the supermarket's assistant manager, under whose rightful and heretofore unchallenged authority that dairy case is stocked and cleaned? That very morning he probably addressed his staff in the very spot where McCain was standing, warning them of the importance of not just cleaning milk from the bottom of the case, but making sure to find the leaky carton to prevent further spillage.

That assistant manager surely did a double-take to check McCain's chest for an employee name-tag that was nowhere to be found. This appearance might have been staged impeccably, but John McCain had best hope it doesn't backfire. In the future, if he wants to start throwing his weight around at a grocery store, maybe he should think about filling out an application first. It's the only way we'll get more video like this:

Posted by: Bob Powers      I’m a fan of Bob Powers