Longoria's Petting Moment

Our presidential nominees have emerged from their taxpayer-subsidized conventions accomplishing a principal goal: To ignore the $6 billion per month that taxpayers are spending in Afghanistan and the average of one U.S. soldier killed there every day this year.

Instead, we got to see Eva Longoria strangely petting Jessica Alba's upper right arm. I am not familiar with either of these people but Democratic strategists say that millions of white working class men will now vote for Barack Obama because of this.

Republican operatives are seeking depression therapy because it never occurred to them to feature two women touching each other provocatively. Best they could have done might have been Clint Eastwood and Tom Selleck in some sort of man love moment that would appeal to women voters -- perhaps Eastwood gently stroking Selleck's forehead with a butter knife would have done the trick.

The upshot? Longoria's petting moment rivals Eastwood's empty chair -- as a distraction all the more welcome to both parties wanting to talk about anything that doesn't matter.