CNN (no link) reports that John McCain and Sarah Palin are going to call the remainder of their campaign the ‘Joe the Plumber Tour’. Why does this campaign double down on every Epic Fail? Joe the Plumber is a lot like Sarah Palin. The McCain Campaign picked both of them without vetting them. In both cases, this led to an immediate unraveling of the narrative they wanted to tell. And, now, as in Palin’s case, they’re just going to go ahead and tell a debunked narrative anyway, as if it weren’t a national joke.
This is the equivalent of fighting the heavyweight champion of the world with both hands tied behind your back. If Howard Cosell were covering this, he’d be outraged that the referee hasn’t stopped the fight, and he’d refuse to cover any political events in the future.
The 1982 title fight between defending heavyweight ruler Larry Holmes and challenger Randall “Tex” Cobb was so one-sided, the very fact that the match was permitted to carry on for mismatched round after mismatched round brought about the retirement of commentator Howard Cosell. Never again would Howard sit behind a microphone and describe the action from a pro boxing match.. And despite Cobb’s faculties being in fine enough working order after the fight to be able to utter the memorable quote he came out with upon hearing of Cosell’s actions – namely that he could provide his sport with no greater service – this quip did not in any way lessen the fact of just how one sided and pitiful the bout had been to watch.
The ‘Joe the Plumber Tour’? Seriously? I actually think Randall “Tex” Cobb had more skills.
