No one – not even Duke basketball fans, of which I am one – thought they’d hear his name again. Yet there he is, suddenly more famous than he ever was for his on- or off-court misadventures: Reggie Love. No, not the sassy lawyer played by Susan Sarandon in The Client – this Reggie is Barack Obama’s “body man.” A body man is a candidate’s constant companion, shadow and minder. He’s Radar O’Reilly to Bam’s Sherman T. Potter. Johnny-on-the-spot with his jacket should it be chilly, a Tide pen should he be spilly or a pick should the presumptive Democratic nominee wish to drive the lane.
Just read the New York Times story, if you didn’t already: "On the Court and on the Trail, One Aide Looms Over Obama."
Hillary has a body person as well: Huma Abedin, who is totally hot.
We cannot turn up any names for John McCain or the woulda-been 2008 candidates. But surely they have (or had) second-string who’s-that-dudes for body people, right? Here are our best guesses – with notes of explanation if needed:John McCain: Casey Sanders (1)
Mike Huckabee: Susan E. Walter (2)
Mitt Romney: Jimmy Osmond (3)
Fred Thompson: Jim Curley (4)
Ron Paul: Reggie Carter (5)
Rudy Giuliani: Regina Peruggi (6)
John Edwards: Marvin Nicholson Jr. (7)
Bill Richardson: Carlos Mencia (8)
Dennis Kucinich: Elizabeth Kucinich (9)
NOTES:
1. Casey Sanders was another Duke pine-rider. Casey’s responsibilities to Mr. McCain do not include setting picks, as the presumptive Republican nominee never drives the lane. He’s more there to reach things on high shelves. (Man, that is not funny.)
2. Susan Walter is listed on IMDB as “second second assistant director: additional photography (uncredited)” for the film I Heart Huckabees.
3. Any of the second-tier Osmonds would do, but Jimmy gets the nod here since he’s the youngest. Kids love Mitt.
4. Jim Curley is the actor who played the president to Fred Thompson’s White House Chief of Staff Harry Sargent in In the Line of Fire. Oh, the irony.
5. Reggie Carter is the actor who played Mr. Jones, one of Dr. No’s henchmen. (Ron Paul, an OBGYN before entering politics, earned the nickname “Dr. No” for his Congressional voting record.) Plus Reggie Carter is named Reggie.
6. Regina Peruggi is Giuliani’s third-string wife. She is also his second cousin. Plus she is almost named Reggie.
7. Marvin Nicholson Jr. was John Kerry’s body man in 2004. Some of these Democrats never learn.
8. Carlos Mencia? Makes a little sense when you consider Mencia’s original name, the also-not-very-Hispanic Ned Holness.
9. Elizabeth Kucinich is a de facto body man -- when you’re flanked by a 6-foot-tall tongue-pierced 29-year-old ginger Essex girl, do you really need anyone else in the entourage? And like Duke big men, she’s also good with high shelves and picks.
RSS 2.0
http://www.playboy.com/mt-tb.cgi/12023