About five lanes over, a young man in a T-shirt that said "Beer Hunter" fell on his backside while bowling and still recorded a strike.
Joseph DiSarro, a political scientist at Washington and Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, said the low score "humanizes him." He told (The Guardian):
Bowling is still a rather popular activity in western Pennsylvania and central Pennsylvania. I don't know whether 37 is going to hurt him, but I would say that his appearance at a bowling alley helped him.
The score itself, it probably humanizes him. Some people think he's a bit too much of a preppy or an elitist.
They're going after the blue-collar vote. They're trying to diminish this notion that this guy only gets the college types. He's in a bowling alley. Some people even might think he probably had a beer and a hot dog. I think it's a master stroke. DiSarro noted that large photographs of him on the lane ran in local newspapers.
An unlike Dukakis, Kerry and Bush at the above-mentioned events, Obama didn't look awkward or uncomfortable.
"His form wasn't bad, but a lesson wouldn't hurt him at all," said Myron Mitchell, president of the Amateur Bowlers Tour told me. "We could spend an hour with him and I could have him in the 140s without any trouble."
Bowling is still a rather popular activity in western Pennsylvania and central Pennsylvania. I don't know whether 37 is going to hurt him, but I would say that his appearance at a bowling alley helped him.
The score itself, it probably humanizes him. Some people think he's a bit too much of a preppy or an elitist.
They're going after the blue-collar vote. They're trying to diminish this notion that this guy only gets the college types. He's in a bowling alley. Some people even might think he probably had a beer and a hot dog. I think it's a master stroke. DiSarro noted that large photographs of him on the lane ran in local newspapers.
An unlike Dukakis, Kerry and Bush at the above-mentioned events, Obama didn't look awkward or uncomfortable.
"His form wasn't bad, but a lesson wouldn't hurt him at all," said Myron Mitchell, president of the Amateur Bowlers Tour told me. "We could spend an hour with him and I could have him in the 140s without any trouble."
2 comments:
This is a very smart move on Obama's part - he's setting himself up for re-election in 2012. As we learned from Stoner earlier in the year, bowling is the fastest-growing high school sport. Endearing himself to today's "lane lettermen(and women)" is, in effect, a political investment in tomorrow's all-important "chain-smoking, domestic-beer swilling, overweight, Friday-night leaguer" bloc.
Update: Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton walked somberly into a press conference Tuesday and stood before microphones. Reporters tensed, sensing something big might be afoot.
"This has been a very hard fought race," she said. "We clearly need to do something so that our party and our people can make the right decision. So, I have a proposal."
The tension grew. Reporters shifted in their seats. Was she dropping out of the race? Offering to join rival Barack Obama as his running mate?
April Fools!
"Today, I am challenging Senator Obama to a bowl-off," Clinton said, provoking relieved laughs from the assembled scribes.
Clinton carried on, making reference to Obama's disastrous outing at a Pennsylvania bowling alley Saturday.
"A bowling night. Right here in Pennsylvania. The winner take all," she went on. "I'll even spot him two frames."
"It is time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all the pins to be counted. I'm prepared to play this game all the way to the 10th frame. When this game is over, the American people will know that when that phone rings at 3 a.m., they'll have a president ready to bowl on day one."
"Let's strike a deal and go bowling for delegates. We don't have a moment to spare, because it's already April Fool's Day. Happy April Fool's Day."
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