You might be a nerd if...

You stay up until 2:00 in the morning watching re-runs on C-Span. I just love that channel, and if you let me I could spend eight hours a day watching it. I'm proud to report, however, that I haven't spent eight hours watching it in the past six months combined, though after having so much fun watching Hillary, Dean, Edwards and Dubya I might be tuning in again soon. It's so much more fun than movies!

Incidentally, Edwards hasn't got a chance. I had to turn it off while he spoke, because it was so folksy and cliche-ridden. Coming on the tails of Dean - who is so feisty that he turned mean on a rabbi - Edwards looked like a good candidate for selectman or country sheriff. And coming on all their heels, Bush blew them away. I guess it helps to be the President, and be able to say what you've done, rather than what you will do. Amazingly, however, for a man with a West Texas speech impediment, he's redefined political speechmaking by bringing it back to content. Speeches a la Edwards give no indication of a pol's actual beliefs; you go away assured that he approves of motherhood. By contrast, Dubya was able to make no-nonsense (if not no-speech-gaffe) answers to questions about Iraq, trying Saddam Hussein, etc.

Also, having been out of the news for most of the last six months, I've seen a lot of maturing in the President's speaking style. He's much slower to answer, and avoids many of the pitfalls that he encountered before. The new approach might not have worked well as a candidate, but it certainly makes him appear more stately and in control, and avoids unnecessary verbal blunders. There were, however, a number of times when his gaffes had me guffawing, such as "the best way to find these terrorists who hide in holes is to get people coming forth to describe the location of the hole."