Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in last night's GOP debate in Iowa, gave this answer when he was asked whether his admitted lack of speaking skills would hurt him in a showdown with Barack Obama:
"There are a lot of folks that said Tim Tebow wasn't going to be a very good NFL quarterback. There are a lot of people who stood up and said he doesn't have the right throwing mechanisms, or he's not playing the game right. And, uh, he won two national championships and that looked pretty good. We were the national champions in job creation back in Texas. So, but am I ready for the next level? Let me tell you, I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses."
At least Perry got his facts right when citing Florida's two national championships under Tebow. But he didn't let up. In his closing statement, Perry quoted a famous NFL player "whose name doesn't come to mind," who apparently said: "If you don't get your tail kicked every now and then, you're not playing at a high enough level." Is that anything like Bill Belichick saying: "On a football team, it's not the strength of the individual players, but it is the strength of the unit and how they all function together."
Politicians on all sides of the aisle fumble the ball trying connect with voters by dropping sports references to sound like they're in touch. Having the Super Bowl, World Series or Olympic champs on the White House lawn is a slam dunk since everybody loves a winner. But too many times pols look foolish when they go jockular.
Perry's comparison to Tebow and his closing quote reminded us of some other notable cringe-inducing sports analogies we've heard over the years from candidates and elected officials from both parties. Here's a "fair and balanced" look:
Our favorite. This "inonic" moment of Boston's Mayor Menino recalling Super Bowl champion Adam Varitek.
We had Sen. John Kerry's outspoken admiration of Red Sox slugger "Manny Ortez" (who hit 84 home runs in 2004 and eventually tested positive several times for PEDs). Kerry also renamed "Lambert Field" in Wisconsin and lauded the home-state "Buckeyes" in Michigan while running for president. It didn't hurt as he carried both states in the 2004 election.
While at a GOP debate in 2007, Romney spoke of the "87 long years" Red Sox fans endured between World Series titles from 1918 to 2004. During the 2010 campaign for the U.S. senate, Martha Coakley accused Curt Schilling of being a Yankees fan. And several of the Democrats hoping to unseat Scott Brown just last week struggled to answer the simple question of "In what years did the Red Sox win the World Series in this century?"
Watching this one is about as painful as waiting for Perry to drop that third cabinet department. We do get our correct answer in about 41 seconds, not 41 minutes, thanks to Jim King.
Tags: Tim Tebow typical Athlete, Tim Tebow Patriots, Tim Tebow Broncos, Tebow Clifton Woman, Tebow little with, Tebow OC Dolphins, Tebow Brady face, Tebow the hype, Tebow Story, Tebow over NFL
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