My grandmother, the one who lived in a log cabin for a while, the single parent of nine, once told me to stop droppin’ my Gs because people would think I was either uneducated or talkin’ down to them. Sure enough, I’ve noticed through the years that bosses always drop their Gs when they’re rappin’ with workers on the factory floor, and politicians do likewise when they want to sound like a guy or gal you’d like to be drinkin’ a beer with. There are two candidates in the presidential race who drop their Gs. One is Sarah Palin. The other is Barack Obama.

Palin is a serial G-dropper (….not lookin’ for a handout …. willin’ and able …. people are strugglin’). I have a serious suspicion her real name is “Paling.” Barack Obama is a sometimes G-dropper, hardly ever during formal speeches, frequently during town hall formats when he’s walkin’ around and feelin’ warm and fuzzy. But in an interview with Charlie Gibson the other night, he gushed out a torrent of G-drops when talkin’ about the travails of the campaign and how much he misses his daughters ( …. every day, wakin’ up in that hotel room …. them pokin’ you, proddin’ you … fixin’ some waffles for them). The difference in the two candidates is that Palin(g) is consistent with her droppin’s, and that makes her consistently condescending. Obama is more selective with his droppin’s, and that makes him inconsistently condescending. Joe Biden doesn’t drop his Gs, but still manages to condescend in his own way (… ladies and gentlemen …. ladies and gentlemen …. ladies and gentlemen). John McCain has a similar way of pandering ( ….my friends …..my friends), but he doesn’t drop Gs when he’s speaking. However, he has been known to drop quite a few at craps tables late in the night, which isn’t condescending of course, just disconcerting, as in who’s answerin’ the telephone when he’s smokin’ those rocks? That would be, Sarah Palin(g), duh.

Whoops! Just heard Wolf Blitzer proclaim, “Comin’ up in the Situation Room.” Maybe I’m not synchin’ up here …..