Alex Massie Alex Massie

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

My friend James Forsyth picks up on another of my favoured non-trivial campaign trivia questions*:

Barack Obama got the question about who he would invite to his ideal dinner party from a newspaper in New Hampshire. The guest list of Jesus, Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln was revealing about how he sees himself. First, it is noticeable that Obama doesn’t pick a Democrat. Second, no figure from the civil rights movement is included. Finally, the mention of Jesus is typical of Obama’s comfort with talking about faith.

Well, with all due respect to James, maybe. But if any normal person gave this answer you would, quite rightly, laugh at them. Could there be a more cliched, yet priggish selection than this? No real person could possibly consider this the ideal guest list for the dinner party of your dreams.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in