McCain Campaign Metaphor

During a rally yesterday in Defiance, Ohio, John McCain again invoked the story of Joe Handyman (Plumber). As an added bonus, McCain enthusiastically punctuated his remarks with a dramatic introduction of Joe to acknowledge his attendance at the rally.

“Joe’s with us today," McCain told an audience of about 6,000 people. "Joe where are you?

Insert crickets chirping here.

Where is Joe? Is Joe with us today?”

Insert awkward crowd chirping here.

"All right," he told the crowd. "Well, you’re all Joe the Plumbers, so all of you stand up!"

Insert oblivious McCain minions clapping for themselves for no apparent reason here.

Maybe McCain was getting Punk'd by his campaign staff. There is no other logical explanation for somebody - anybody - on his staff failing to confirm that Joe was in the audience.

As if this entire episode couldn't get any more absurd, we now know that the crowd was expected to be embarrassingly small. To fill the seats, all of the school children from the town of Defiance were excused from school and sent on a field trip to witness what amounted to improv day at the Senior Center.

I hope those kids got extra credit for their sacrifice.