Jump the Shark
When writers for a television show begin to run out of plot lines, they sometimes become desperate for ideas that will hold the attention of viewers. This happens to almost every show eventually. When the writers use some of these weird or contrived ideas, the show is said to have ‘jumped the shark’.
The phrase ‘jumping the shark’ is taken from the TV show ‘Happy Days’. In one episode, Fonzie literally jumps over a shark on water skis. (For those of you born after 1979, Happy Days was a 1970’s TV show that was set between 1957 & 1962. Fonzie was a leather-clad biker who, in a few episodes, jumped over various objects on his motorcycle. We swear, this was a VERY POPULAR show.)
The most common TV version of ‘jumping the shark’ is when one of the main characters becomes pregnant or gets married. Anything, anything to breathe new life into the series.
John McCain is a serious man with serious ideas. On occasion he has been willing to take on his party or president. When did the bell toll for him? When did his campaign ‘jump the shark’?
When he chose as his running mate, an attractive moose-shooting Governor of Alaska.
At the time of the decision his poll numbers were comparable to Obama’s. One can only assume he really feared he had no more ‘juice’ to win additional voters. He obviously felt his numbers were slipping, and people were starting to believe in the charismatic Obama. The McCain campaign needed new life. Right?
Desperate action was needed!
With a long life of national public service, John McCain must personally know hundreds of capable Republicans. So who did he select? A person he met one time, and talked with on the phone one other time. The vetting process took approximately 2 ½ hours.
We know for sure he was drawn to the part of her act that says she “took on” big oil in Alaska when, in fact, she is pro big-oil. This allowed him to call her a ‘maverick’ too! And did you notice how attractive she is? And a female at that!! Win-win-win!
Maybe using lobbyists as advisors is not the best idea. (See our previous article, “The Incredible Shrinking McCain”)
We are guessing when he chose her, he thought she could name all three countries in North America. He probably assumed she had been governor too short a period of time to be charged with any sort of unethical behavior.
Eventually, her lack of gravitas was sure to surface. And the ethics violations. Happily, these occurred before the election. Republican insider revelations of her ‘diva’ behavior did not surface until after the election.
A more conventional pick, even a boring old white male, would have given Senator McCain a better chance. At least a fighting chance.
Don’t blame “Sexy Sarah” for the loss. She performed her “hot-looking bomb-thrower” role to perfection.
It was McCain who chose her, and McCain who paid the price.
The pizzazz she gave to the campaign was sure fun while it lasted though, wasn’t it?
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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