Blake’s Blog

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surely knows this by now, but not all the political advice he gets is good advice.

Not even when it comes from an experienced political hand like former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr.

Ford, a Democrat from Memphis, penned an opinion piece for Newsweek magazine’s June 2 issue in which he offered Obama a few tips for campaigning in the run-up to the November general election.

Which is an interesting development, in and of itself, because as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, Ford has previously adhered to a policy of neutrality with regard to candidates vying to be the Democratic nominee.

Since Hillary Clinton is still in the race, at least the last time I checked, it’s a bit surprising to me that Ford would be looking ahead at this point.

Nevertheless, the advice he offers Obama mostly seems pretty solid.

Ford opines that Obama can shed his elitist image by getting out and mixing among regular folks more, which seems sensible enough.

However, Ford also suggested that after Obama’s infamous campaign appearance at a bowling alley earlier this year, the candidate should have returned the next night to try to improve on his 37 score.

I’ve got to disagree with Ford on that point. After a performance like that, I think Obama would be better off just picking another sport.

After all, a lot of regular folks play slow pitch softball, too. And the distance between the foul lines on a softball diamond is a lot wider than the distance between those gutters in a bowling alley.