Trying to find a proper analogy for non-political people is hard. Not "George Bush hard," but real hard.
You can use something like sports, but that doesn't always address the personalities involved. Someone tried to relate the Democratic Primary to the 2004 NBA Finals (Lakers vs. Pistons) but I still think that's a stretch.
But I think I finally stumbled on a good answer for people who ask me to summarize the differences between the remaining presidential candidates, other than, "Seriously, you need to do more research."
Jeff Greenfeld breaks this down over at Slate.com:
As shaped by genius animator Chuck Jones—he didn't create the Warner Bros. icons, but he gave them their later looks and personalities—Bugs and Daffy represent polar opposites in how to deal with the world. Bugs is at ease, laid back, secure, confident. His lidded eyes and sly smile suggest a sense that he knows the way things work. He's onto the cons of his adversaries. Sometimes he is glimpsed with his elbow on the fireplace mantel of his remarkably well-appointed lair, clad in a smoking jacket. (Jones once said Cary Grant was his inspiration for Bugs. Today it would be George Clooney.) Bugs never raises his voice, never flails at his opponents or at the world. He is rarely an aggressor. When he is pushed too far and must respond, he borrows a quip from Groucho Marx: "Of course, you realize this means war." And then, whether his foe is hapless hunter Elmer Fudd, varmint-shooting Yosemite Sam, or a raging bull, Bugs always prevails.
Daffy Duck, by contrast, is ever at war with a hostile world. He fumes, he clenches his fists, his eyes bulge, and his entire body tenses with fury. His response to bad news is a sibilant sneer ("Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin!"). Daffy is constantly frustrated, sometimes by outside forces, sometimes by his own overwrought response to them. In one classic duel with Bugs, the two try to persuade Elmer Fudd to shoot the other—until Daffy, tricked by Bugs' wordplay, screams, "Shoot me now!"
I think we have some people with Bugs and/or Daffys tendencies still in this race, but I don't agree with Greenfeld that it who he says it is, or that it's such an absolute. He tries to paint Sen. Clinton as a Daffy, but it's not like her campaign was acting like this when she was "the inevitable nominee." In fact, you can argue that back than candidates like Rep. Gravel were more...Daffy-ish. Sen. Obama my seem more Bugs now, but Greenfeld also neglects to mention that nowadays Bugs is corporate, as in "establishment."
As for Republicans, there's little doubt that Gov. Huckabee has been the better speaker (even if, like me, you don't agree with 99% of what he says). Like Bugs, Huckabee knows how the game is played and is rarely seen exerting energy unnecessarily. And George W. Bush? Sorry but he was talking about missile defense before 9/11; and after 9/11 he's been anything but calm and everything resembling "the aggressor." Also, today's Daffy isn't the same angry, and occasionally emtionally unstable duck of the past; moreso he's become the envious, spotlight-loving ego-maniac.
So no; I don't see clear-cut Bugs and Daffys. But if I were to lend my two cents in the Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies Family analogy, it would be thus:
- Hillary Clinton: Wile E. Coyote. Both are smart, resourceful, stubborn and rely on an organization that makes cool-looking equippment, but sadly doesn't seem to work the way it's supposed to.
- Barack Obama: Buster Bunny. Sorry to get generational here, but this line sums it up best:
Although cool and collected for the most part, there are instances where other characters will get the better of Buster, or some unfortunate mishap will befall him, unlike his mentor Bugs, who for the most part was always on top of his game.
- John McCain: Yosemite Sam. McCain himself made this comparison, so I'm not going to argue.
- Mike Huckabee: Porky Pig. Thinks he's a miracle; but he's really a sidekick.
I would say in closing that the aim is to become more like Bugs or Daffy (they are, afterall, the two most popular characters). If Clinton can get her swagger back and/or Obama can keep his attackers on their heals, then we just might see someone take up the mantle of "wasically wabbit."
That's All, Folks!