For southpaws Barack Obama and John McCain, the commonalities mount
Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama will be inclined to dwell on this, but different as they are in so many obvious ways, similarities between the two are beginning to stack up.
Both are left-handed (indeed, as the New York Sun's Russell Berman recently detailed, it now appears certain that for the fifth time in the last 35 years, a southpaw will be president).
Both swear by the Ernest Hemingway novel in which the flawed American hero volunteers to fight in the Spanish Civil War, "For Whom the Bells Tolls." [Thanks, commenters, for correcting the title. Mea culpa, mea culpa.]
And both have an affinity for lucky charms.
McCain's superstitious nature long has been remarked upon; The Washington Post's Dana Milbank wrote this piece about it during the 2000 Republican primary race.
Obama's comparable proclivity gained attention last week, when while campaigning in New Mexico he pulled out a pocketful of trinkets to show some voters. In doing so, he struck an international chord.
Obama's tokens included a small monkey king replica, and in India they took notice. As a Sunday post in the Chicago Tribune's Swamp blog noted, "the charm is presumed to be an image of Hanuman, Hinduism's popular monkey god."
Nor does the tale end there, as the item relates; check it out here.
-- Don Frederick
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Whatever it takes to get our nation back on track. CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN may require a good luck charm or two. Heres hoping Obama finds the four leaf clover and the Irish vote for him too. Best of Luck Barack we are behind you here in the Cuban American community.
Posted by: RaUL PEDRAZA | June 30, 2008 at 06:05 AM
It's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' -- research, research, research . . . .
Posted by: e.roccanova | June 30, 2008 at 06:11 AM
Please--it's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" NOT "For Whom the Bells Toll." Title based on the poem by John Donne.
Get an intern or learn to do a little research before you post.
Posted by: American literata | June 30, 2008 at 06:27 AM
Amazing, that you can be employed as an editor/blogger for the Los Angeles Times while under the belief that there is a novel called "For Whom The Bells Toll."
Posted by: Gene T | June 30, 2008 at 06:30 AM
We should be grateful that neither McCain nor Obama is the product of the current American education system. Else their favorite book would probably be a comic book.
-Wm Tate,
http://www.atimelikethis.us/
Posted by: Wm Tate | June 30, 2008 at 06:55 AM
Yes, because accidentally pressing the "s" button disqualifies everything else being said.
Posted by: Josh | June 30, 2008 at 07:18 AM
Which Presidents have been leftys?
Posted by: Robert Cole | June 30, 2008 at 07:22 AM
Hey, I bet they both have moms, breath oxygen, and expel bodily waste, too. What is the point of this article?
Posted by: Wade | June 30, 2008 at 07:28 AM
As far as lucky goes.
We will all be lucky if neither gets elected!
Posted by: HippyHawk | June 30, 2008 at 07:55 AM
This "article" has little, if none, substance, other than remarking of a few trivial similarities.
Stating that both are left handed, like a Hemmingway novel, Lucky Charms and have a few good luck charms is a list, not a political piece.
Posted by: francis | June 30, 2008 at 07:56 AM
Wade, the point of the article is that they are both superstitious lefties. Was that not clear? Those traits aren't that common--especially in Presidential contenders.
Posted by: NV | June 30, 2008 at 08:06 AM
Robert the point of the article is that John McCain sucks. And while I'm not much (understatement) for the utopian, socialist left, the Republican Party needs to be dismantled, and rebuilt. We have to many fascist leaning, war mongering, mouth breathing sheeple in it. And the leadership is worse. So there needs to be some house cleaning. And it needs to start at the state level. Republicans? Only in name. As the Republic is on its knees.
Posted by: Not Robert Cole | June 30, 2008 at 08:11 AM
BARACK OBAMA
INTEGRITY FOR A CHANGE
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
Posted by: Joel Maguire | June 30, 2008 at 08:22 AM
Why does'nt Frederick write about the commonalities
( a much used word with arrogant elitists) between Obama and Robert Mugabe ? I guess it would not sit too
well with the elitist crowd . Truth in reporting has become
somewhat uncommon.
Posted by: Left handed Albanian dwarf | June 30, 2008 at 08:35 AM
do u really no waz goin on cause u are stupid whenit comes to ploites
Posted by: faith | June 30, 2008 at 08:44 AM
Raoul Pedraza
If you are over 13 then you have to be a retard.You do
not appear typical of the Cuban American community,but
much more in line with those Cubans who have kept in
power one of the worst dictators of recent history. Be
carefull what you wish for....the days of Stalinist purges
and blood baths could be just months away.
Posted by: Girl with the bushy armpits | June 30, 2008 at 09:00 AM
Left handed people had have poor potty training and tend to be selfish, and self-centered.
Posted by: Titus | June 30, 2008 at 09:31 AM
My word. This is newsworthy? They also share a strangely similar number of extremities and appedenages, and speak through a very odd obling opening in their face. Despite their polar-opposite stances on how the government should be run ... its obvious now how similar they are! Who's going to be the first one to contact Fox News with this breaking story ...
Posted by: Tony | June 30, 2008 at 09:57 AM
Titus:
I don't know which lefties you know, but my sister and I are both lefties and we were both FULLY potty trained at 9 months old...to add to that, I know plenty of right handed ppl that are selfish and self-centered (neither of which i would categorize myself as). So, maybe you should have rephrased your statement so that it wasn't so general...AND next time attempt to make such an accusatory statement, make sure your sentences are all grammatically correct!
Posted by: elle | June 30, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Hey lighten up everyone. It was obviously a slow news day, and the tidbit about both candidates being southpaws may not be big news - and not exactly the basis for concluding that Obama and McCain are more politically similar than different - but thanks Don. I'm sure we're going to see plenty more trivia from all media before November is concluded. At some stage we'll get the 4-yearly item about what the first lady will do with the White House drapes, and we'll get the bellwether county that's got it right for 136 years etc etc, and - jeez, what about the way both candidates wear their ties? (Moderation compared to GWB's "hang below the beltline" style.) People are endlessley fascinating, and while this stuff isn't deep, it helps everyone keep their feet on the ground. Now gotta go. The bells are tolling for me.
Posted by: Duncan Stuart | June 30, 2008 at 07:34 PM