McCain Suprises "Idol" Fans With Humor!

I have made a big effort to stay away from talking about pop culture for fear that if my readers found out about my addiction to "American Idol" and "Dancing With The Stars", they would somehow respect my political opinions less (if it is possible to respect them any less!). However, last night all three candidates did their part to raise funds for "Idol Gives Back", so I can combine reality TV and the presidential election! Who would have thought?

If you are not an "Idol" fan, for two years now, "American Idol" has held a telethon/fund raiser during the season for under privileged children around the world. Many stars show up, there is a lot of singing, the clips of African children that make you cry, you get the picture. Last year they raised over $75 million dollars and figures from this year are around $60 million so far. Last night, all three presidential candidates spoke out to encourage viewers to give and I can't believe that I am saying this, but John McCain was the most impressive, not because he had great, motivational things to say, but because he was funny - almost human like!

Hillary started off, looking slightly better than death warmed over, and talked about how good it is to help others and we can't really call ourselves Americans if we don't help.....yada, yada, you get the idea - nothing great. Disappointingly, Obama was not that much better. I mean this is his speciality - motivating and pulling heart strings. I felt like I should put wax in my ears before he spoke, like the mythological sailors did as to not be tempted by the sirens singing, but it was unnecessary. He mentioned how his daughters were fans of the show and it is important to give to change the world...yada, yada.

But in between the two democrats, we saw some actual republican humor. McCain started out by telling viewers that there was "really no difference between "American Idol" and the primary elections, except that voters in Florida and Michigan get a chance to be heard" HA! Then after a few worlds about the importance of giving - sorry, I didn't get the exact wording, I was trying to recover from his completely unexpected joke - he said more funny stuff! McCain said that he had to close because "he was going to work on his new immigration plan, so Simon better watch out!" (If you are not a viewer, Simon is the judge from England that no body likes because he tells the truth to the contestants, even when they sound terrible.) I don't know if he watches "Idol" or not, but if not, he has an awesome "Idol" advisor, because to come on with comments like that, made him not only relate to the average "Idol" watcher, but made him almost, for a second, likable.

Thank goodness for TiVo so I could rewind and hear this again. No, this is not going to change my opinion about him as our next president, but it does give me just a hint of faith that he might have some (and I use some very lightly) redeeming qualities. He still doesn't know if we are fighting the Sunni's or Shiite's in Iraq (which is important for our next president), but he does know who Simon Cowell is.