“No, I wasn’t trying to say he is Saddam-like,” he laughed. “The context was, this guy’s a lightweight. Never have I seen so much swoon for so little biography. If he can make something out of this, it proves he’s very thin-skinned and he ain’t ready. Hillary will beat him like a rented mule.” ~Maureen Dowd, The New York Times

I haven’t heard that phrase in years.  What an image it conjures up–especially for an intra-Democratic primary squabble!  It almost certainly can’t help Obama’s appeal that he doesn’t have one name that most people in the country will be able to recognise without having unfortunate associations with, well, you know who.  Maybe if he went by his initials–good old B.H. Obama, or maybe just run it all together as one word, Bhobama.  It couldn’t hurt, could it?