Jobs by the dozens

Who says unemployment is up in America right now? There's one profession that seems to be growing exponentially.

Political strategist.

They are just about everywhere.

Turn on one of the all-news stations, particularly during the day, and you'll find a couple of them (they seem to come in pairs). One for McCain, one for Obama. They spout their respective party lines, go back and forth for five minutes or so, and then are sent to where political strategists go when they aren't on TV. Personally, I think they just switch channels for their next engagement, one station after another.

The two questions that comes to mind are:

1. Do these guys have any background or references? There's never any listing of their qualifications. (Note: This does not include the Bob Shrums or Karl Roves of the world, who actually have worked for Presidential candidates.) Did they ever do more than make phone calls for the Town Council candidates of Hulett, Wyoming? (Assuming Hulett has one.)

2. Do these guys ever say anything interesting? Either Obama's got it all locked up, or McCain is closing fast. Their fax machines must be humming with stuff from the campaign headquarters.

I suppose MSNBC, CNN and FNC have to show something during the day besides the candidates' speeches -- which, by the way, consists of roughtly the same material day after day, hour after hour (although it is fun to count up the number of false charges that Gov. Palin seems to make in a given speech) -- and this kills part of the time.

But, jeez, what are these media outlets going to do on ... Wednesday?!?