Web Watch: Political cage match

I got a very large kick out of the video posted below. On the USA network’s Monday Night RAW!, all three presidential contenders offered up taped statements to the professional wrestling fans.

Sen. Hillary Clinton compares the race to a “King of the Ring” match and says the last man standing may in fact be a woman.

Sen. Barack Obama asks the special interests and “the forces of division and distraction” that he stands against, ”Do you smell what Ba-Rock is Cookin’?”

Sen. John McCain gives a throw-back Hulk-esque taunt: “Whactha gonna do when John McCain and all his McCainiacs run wild on you?”

(As someone who watched “professional” wrestling years ago as a kid, this is all highly amusing to me.)

One thing I would note: Pro wrestling does indeed have a following out there. According to Nielsen Media Research, the WWE Entertainment (Raw) shows placed tied for 4th and 8th among cable audiences, the week of April 7. One time slot got nearly 5 million sets of eyeballs.

A skeptical questioner immediately asks: How many of those belong to someone of voting age?

But, a larger question: Would you call this “pandering” or “reaching out?” Does this help or hurt the candidates? Do these fall into the category of clever, pithy remarks or cheesy, bad jokes?

These are much the same questions I raised last week after the candidates appeared (taped) on American Idol.