Sycophantic Separated At Birth?

Lisa Simpson to Montgomery Burns at a staged campaign event at the Simpson household:

"Mr. Burns: your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?'' and...

...Dean Singleton, current president of the AP, to Barak Obama at the AP's annual luncheon yesterday in Washington:

Senator Obama, today's event is sold out. Thank you. You have been drawing large crowds wherever you travel. What's your take on the sense of excitement around your candidacy?

It should be noted that Lisa Simpson was forced to pander to Mr. Burns, while Dean Singleton apparently was acting on his own volition.

John Hinderaker has more on how the cynical, skeptical, hard-boiled media types at the AP greeted Senator Obama yesterday. He really walked into a den of kittens there.

In fairness, Dana Milbank actually thinks that Obama was treated harsher than John McCain at the AP events, which doesn't speak well of the bite of our media "watchdogs."

Rich Somerville has a more nuanced perspective and notes that the size and makeup of the crowds make comparisons tricky:

Since I was able to snag a front-row seat for that session, I had dibs on the same seat for McCain. There was no security check, either for me or the people who arrived following the panel session to hear McCain. The room was packed, for sure, but by Washington Convention Center standards it wasn't that huge of a room.

By contrast, the AP luncheon where Obama spoke was held in the cavernous main ballroom, and even with "by invitation only" tickets costing $75 each (for rubbery chicken), the event was sold out--for the first time in AP's 162-year history, according to the current president of AP, who happens to be Dean Singleton.

I am no good at crowd estimates, but my guess is that at least three times as many people attended the lunch featuring Obama. Not only that, but everyone at the lunch had to go through airport-type security, including random wanding. I can only surmise that it's because Obama has had Secret Service protection for a while (no doubt because of threats), while McCain so far has refused it, although he reluctantly has said that he would have discussions this week about accepting protection.

I will note, by the way, that those at the Obama luncheon were not all editors and publishers. I saw many tables set aside for AP employees, and because the newspaper trade show--NEXPO--is being held at the same time, there were many vendors and their spouses there.