Last year, I wrote a post about how a lot of leading comedic male actors who thrive on energy or a wacky personality lose their box office mojo in their early 40s.   Think Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Dan Ackroyd, etc.

Sadly, now we can add to that list Will Farrell.  Entertainment Weekly opines that Land of the Lost is the unsuprising latest entry in a string of box office flops Farrell has made since hitting the big 4-0.

Schtick, after awhile, just gets old.  So does seeing a man approaching middle-age act immaturely.  I still love Will, though.  Anchorman will never be equaled.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) revealed today that the Obama campaign has asked him for a significant amount of paperwork, indicating that they are vetting him for VP. There are a few good arguments for Dodd — he’s got foreign policy experience, has strong banking and commerce ties, is a solid debater, and speaks fluent Spanish. But there is one big reason not to select Chris Dodd that you may not know about: he is cursed. Because he has met me.

That’s right, meeting me = failed Presidential campaign. The evidence is strong. And here’s what’s worse: I’ve met Barack Obama, too. An Obama/Dodd ticket would be doomed.

You may not believe in curses, but let us examine the dubious history of my personal involvement in Presidential politics:

• In 1994, I interned for Chris Dodd in his DC office. While there, I met Iowa Senator Tom Harkin randomly and hung out with him and his staff for about half an hour. Granted, this was two years after Harkin flamed out after the Iowa caucuses, but I suspect that this is where the taint of Presidential failure took hold. Damn you, Tom Harkin and your down-home liberal wit.
• In 2000, I left work early to attend a Bill Bradley rally in Providence, Rhode Island. Tragically, he shook my hand and said hello. Despite a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary, Bradley’s campaign collapsed weeks later.
• In 2003, I started volunteering for John Kerry months before the first primaries. During the dark days of late autumn, when he was polling in the mid-single digits in New Hampshire and Iowa, Senator Kerry tempted fate by trading sea stories with me for a few minutes. The Kerry Komeback began almost immediately, and when he sealed up the nomination in March, 2004, naturally I felt responsible. Then came election night and a singularly depressing drive back from Ohio to DC. Kharma had paid Kerry back … in spades.
• In 2006, Republican Senator Sam Brownback was jogging by the Supreme Court and made the mistake of stopping to ask my friend and me what case we were camping out for. A mere 20 months later, his Presidential ambitions would lie in tatters.
• 2008, Dodd’s campaign fails to gain any traction despite solid fundraising and a worthy resumé.

You can take that to the bank. Now, here’s why Obama is in trouble (with or without Dodd):

• In 2005-2006, Obama and I lived in the same apartment building in Washington. If he loses the election, he can trace the cause back to running into me at the water fountain by our apartment gym.
• Dodd has met me on at least two occasions — back when I worked at his office, and once randomly at the sculpture garden in DC. Now, he might have survived these two brief encounters, except that he and his wife had a conversation with me about au pairs. Kiss of death.

Given this information, Obama would do well to also avoid Senator Jack Reed, who had the misfortune of having me serve as his guide on a tour of a military base in 2003. Other politicians Obama should cross off his list are Dick Durbin, Stephanie Herseth, Pat Leahy, Ted Kennedy, and Bob Packwood.

As has often been noted (in reference to the candidacy of Hillary Clinton), 1976 was the last Presidential election without a Bush or a Clinton on a party’s ticket. That means you have to be at least FIFTY years old to have had a choice that doesn’t include one of those two families. 1976 was also the zenith of the popularity of that great American cultural and sports icon, Bruce Jenner. In the late 70’s, he was a hero, “The World’s Greatest Athlete.” But as the Bush/Clinton rivalry swelled, Jenner’s fortunes waned . Now both political houses are vanquished and Bruce is back on TV and in America’s hearts. This led me to wonder: is the cultural relevance of Bruce Jenner inversely related to the number of Bushes and Clintons running for President?

A Brief History

The Bush/Clinton-free election wasn’t the only important event of 1976. It was also the year that Bruce Jenner won the Decathlon at the Olympics (runners-up for importance: the Bicentennial, my first steps). With his gold medal and leading-man good looks, Jenner became an instant household name and one of the most recognizable celebrities in America. He did commercials, TV shows, guest-spots, and sold everything from cereal to shampoo. He was (at least) the Lance Armstrong of his day.

But somewhere along the line, we lost our Bruce. Time passed. Bush got re-elected, then promoted. Jenner managed to stretch his celebrity out for almost a decade and then slipped, unnoticed, into the cultural ether. Bill Clinton won, then won again. Bush II rose from his tipsy middle-aged slumber to two terms in the White House. All the while Bruce bided his time. An entire generation grew to adult hood, voting for Bushes and Clintons unaware that we had any other choice, or that Bruce Jenner ever existed.

Then came the election of 2008. It looked for some time like the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton chain would pay out another link, but along came Barack Obama. And who was on his heels? None other than our Bruce. I was flipping past E! a few months ago and an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians was on. Something caught my eye, just beyond the cartoonishly-curvaceous Kim. Sitting there on the couch, pretending to dole out cantankerous parental wisdom was my old hero, Bruce Jenner. Reduced now, older, uncomfortably androgynous with his umpteen plastic surgeries and trademark bob, but it was still Bruce.

I tried to explain the shock of this revelation to a couple of coworkers in their early-20’s, but they were non-plused; neither one knew Bruce as anything other than Kim Kardashian’s step-father. Two thoughts thundered in my head: 1) Bruce Jenner is Kim Kardashian’s step-father? That’s like seeing a reality show twenty years from now about Tiger Woods’ marriage to Paris Hilton; and 2) I’m f’in old.

These Gen-Yers knew nothing of Bruce Jenner and nothing of a dynasty-free politic. That’s when the Bush-Clinton-Jenner connection hit me. I decided to go election-by-election and track the fates of the two great houses and our once-great icon.

BUSH-CLINTON-JENNER through the years:

1976 – Neither a Bush nor a Clinton on the ticket. George Bush is director of the CIA. Bill Clinton elected Arkansas Attorney General. Bruce Jenner wins the gold in the Olympic Decathlon, carries American flag around track on victory lap and becomes a cultural phenomenon. Appears on Wheaties boxes in breakfast nooks everywhere. Ties with Dorothy Hamill for “cutest bob haircut” at 1976 Olympic ceremonies.

1980 – George Bush runs as Reagan’s VP. Bill Clinton is the youngest governor in Arkansas history. Jenner appears in film Can’t Stop the Music about the Village People. It flops. The dark downhill slide for Bruce has begun.

1984 – George Bush re-elected as VP. Jenner fills in for Erik Estrada on a couple of episodes of CHiPs.

1988 – Governor Clinton addresses the Democratic National Convention. Bush I elected President. Jenner’s agent’s phone stops ringing.

1992 – Only election of Bush vs. Clinton run coincides with hype of “Dan & Dave” competition for Decathlon in 1992 Olympics. Not-coincidentally, Bruce Jenner’s cultural relevance at an all-time low.

1996 – Bill Clinton re-elected. Bush jr. now governor of Texas due to pact with devil. Bruce appears on infomercials for exercise machines, prompting older Americans (the ones up late enough to watch infomercials) to exclaim, “What the hell happened to Bruce Jenner’s face?”

2000 – Bush jr. becomes Bush II through non-violent coup. Common sense weeps. Hillary Clinton storms into the Senate, setting the stage for the Clinton Revival. The advent of popular internet search engines creates a brief boomlet for Bruce as people search Lycos for “bruce jenner + plastic surgery.”

2004 – Bush II re-elected. Somehow doesn’t get the message when more Americans vote against him than against any sitting war time President in history. Unclear what Bruce Jenner thinks about all this, because no one asks him.

2008 – American democracy is rescued by Barack Obama (and the W-sized weight around Jeb Bush’s ankle). Bruce is famous again, confirming that the next best thing to being the world’s greatest athlete is parenting the world’s most downloaded badonkadonk.

There you have it. The connection is clear, and I think the evidence I have laid out, while circumstantial, is convincing. Here’s the test: if E! cancels Keeping up with the Kardashians in the next four years, watch for Hillary or Jeb to be nominated in 2012.