No Jail, No Justice! No Jail, No Justice!

A television station in Mobile, Alabama, has reported (here) on a recent appearance of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama in Atlanta, Georgia. Along the way it notes:

He got a laugh when he noted that while Paris Hilton got jail time, Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby did not. President Bush pardoned Libby.

The Washington Post has also picked up on the appearance here. Of course, this "joke" was first floated by Illinois' other Senator, Dick Durbin, who noted, in an official statement after the commutation, “Even Paris Hilton had to go to jail.” It appears that jail time is the new measure of justice for the Senators from Illinois.

One might view the Hilton-Libby rhetoric as the residue of the assumption that Libby's commutation will, somehow, translate into meaningful electoral politics in November of 2008. Indeed, Obama has already expressed his view that the commutation will "help" Democrats (see my comments here). But, it would appear that the rhetoric really presents nothing more than a cheesy opportunity for Obama to conjure up the image of Paris Hilton, get a chuckle, and look really cool, hip and contemporary to those who are easily impressed by such.

A Gallup Poll indicates only 20 percent of Americans were even willing to claim to have followed the news concerning the Libby commutation "closely" - which, of course, is not the same as (or even close to) having followed the case "closely." And it says plenty that that number is so low given the fact that the survey was run after critics of the commutation dominated media airways for five solid days, providing a steady rain of contempt, doom and gloom.

Even then, Gallup took no chances on talking to Americans and getting a bunch of "don't knows" and "no opinions." The survey question coached respondents as much as possible, without showing a photo of Libby in prison garb:

How closely are you following the news about President Bush's decision to commute the prison sentence of former vice presidential aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby -- very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?

Seems to me that a person who was following the news "closely" would not all of that biographical information. Why not simply ask,"How closely have you been following the news concerning Scooter Libby"?

Prison? The word prison in a survey question? Can you say "emotive" language?

According to the same poll, after having been asked this question:

From what you have heard or read, do you think President Bush was right to commute Libby's sentence, do you think he should have gone further and granted him a full pardon, or do you think he should not have intervened at all on Libby's behalf?

most Americans (66 percent) chose Gallup's option, "not intervene at all." That has to be the drawing point for Obama, but what political hay can he really make of this? Do most Americans really know much of anything about Libby's case? Are the millions who know so little willing to form a strong opinion anyway and then vote on the basis of a comment linking Libby to Paris Hilton? Have the Democrats established themselves as the righteous defenders of the pardon power? Is Libby as sensational as the F.A.L.N. terrorists, Roger Clinton and Marc Rich? Obama is taking something of a gamble with all of this. So, keeping it all at the level of a "joke" seems the smart thing to do.