Nice going, John. Just when we thought George W. Bush was the king of photo-ops, what do we get to see when one of our favorite presidential hopefuls announces his run? You, wearing blue jeans and shoveling dirt with some - surprise! - young black guys. Note to John: The tough workin' man look would have been more effective if you weren't wearing your blackberry.

Don't get me wrong, I'm aware of the unfortunate fact that in product advertising, images are frequently more important than words (you being the product). But your campaign team doesn't seem to know the difference between effective stage decorations and a blatantly fake photo-op. You see, this is the kind of thing we liberals (your potential base) are so sick of seeing for the past six years. For us, such crafted images like these are indicative of a politician who puts image before substance and who thinks his target audience are a bunch of morons.

We're not morons. When we saw George W. Bush get out of a freakin' navy jet in a flight suit, we hurled. When we saw him trimming brush on his fantasy camp ranch and practically tripping over his own cowboy boots, we laughed our asses off. And when he commandeered a group a firefighters for the sole purpose of posing with them with his sleeves rolled up after Katrina, we got pissed - really pissed.



Some in your campaign team may struggle with the difference between effective imagery and ridiculous photo-ops, and the line between the two isn't exactly crystal clear. But here's my best guess as to one of the basics: When you are actually fabricating events for the sole purpose of having pictures taken of them, you're crossing the line. We all know George W. Bush is not a pilot, he doesn't work on his ranch when cameras aren't present, and he wasn't about to go save people from a burning building after the hurricane.

And yes, we know this shoveling business wasn't for real. It's only for show - everyone knows it and it makes you look stupid. We won't be voting for you for your shoveling technique - we'd be voting for you for your policies designed to prevent another community from being buried in the first place.

We'll tolerate you posing in front of monuments and flags. We won't even mind too much if you find some "Made in the U.S.A." boxes for a backdrop like Bush did, but unless you plan on switching parties and battling McCain for the Republican nomination, don't insult our intelligence. If you want our vote, John, you're going to have to get real, and fast.