Oct 23, 2006

Have the Republicans Jumped the Shark?

Bush Jumps the Shark"Jump the Shark" is a metaphor for the moment that a TV series passes it's peak. In the case of the show Happy Days, it was when a water skiing "Fonzie" literally jumped over a shark. The writers had run out of credible plot ideas.

Perhaps this moment has arrived for the Republican Party, who face the possiblity of losing control of both Congress and the Senate in next month's mid-term elections. They've just run a television ad, "The Stakes", that features quotes from Osama Bin Laden and suggests that the Democrats aren't up to the challenge. Kind of like standing beside a burning building holding a spent match and shouting "only I can put this fire out!"

Comparisons have been made to a successful Democrat ad from 1964, but that ad ended with "we must either love each other or we must die." Kind of the opposite of George W's preemptive strike doctrine. George W of course jumped the shark when he declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq back in 2003.

Michael's PunctureThis weekend also saw the final Formula One race of the season, at Interlagos in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Neither the driver's or the manufacturer's championship had been completely decided going into the race, so there was plenty riding on the outcome. In the end Fernando Alonso scored enough points by finishing second to come out on top of Michael Schumacher, who could only manage fourth. Michael did have a great drive though after a poor qualifying session. He started tenth and quickly fought his way up to third before a tire puncture forced him to pit early and drop all the way back to 19th. He managed to fight his way back up again to fourth though, so it was a good performance for his final Formula One race. Brazilian Felipe Massa started his Ferrari on the pole and stayed there all race.

Next season will be an interesting one. With Michael Schumacher retired there will be a lot of shuffling of drivers. The biggest changes are newly crowned two-time champion Fernando Alonso leaving Renault for struggling McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen heading from McLaren to Ferrari.

Listening to: The Eve of the War by Jeff Wayne from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds.

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