Huckabee, Texas Ranger

So a commercial has recently been released about Mike Huckabee’s campaign.
What’s new with it? Well, total turn around. Chuck Norris is now endorsing
Huckabee! (?) Wow, um, lucky him? I don’t understand how this will help
anyone in any way. But in a Newsweek article, they seemed pretty pumped.
Apparently, not only is Huckabee in good shape now, he took the lead in
Iowa polls because of his new endorser. Wow, so that “18-22 year-old
college frat guy” demographic is way more important than we all thought, I
guess.
Not only is it in Newsweek, but it also shows up on the Newsweek Website -- complete with video. The story showed up on FOX news -- that video linked to from time.com. Why was this story so pervasive when there were clearly better things to talk about? And why were there no writers commenting on how ridiculous the entire endorsement system was?
Simple: Because news isn't interested in context or analysis. They simple reported on what they saw. And what they saw was hilarious.
The commercial itself seemed way more serious – but to the trained eye,
hilarious. “The ad opens with Huckabee deadpanning: ‘My plan to secure the
border? Two words: Chuck Norris.’” GENIUS, Mike Huckabee. Let’s put one
guy who hasn’t had a job in 2 years (okay, it was really more like 6
years, but I’ll go ahead and count in Texas Ranger movie for his benefit)
in charge of a major national issue. I’ll just ignore the fact that you
have no real plan for immigration, because Chuck Norris is just so
fantastic.
Putting aside the fact that this is a sub-Oprah endorsement, let’s look at
what Chuck Norris could do for Huckabee. Well first of all that’s not even
his real name. It’s Carlos. He is in the martial arts, not politics. But
wait, he has also given insane amounts of money to the Republican Party
and shown up on the FOX news network. He only gained popularity (again)
after some internet-crazy blogger published “Norris facts” aka random
information someone made up to prove that Chuck Norris is tough. Other
than being a judge in the movie Dodgeball, he has been a martial arts
actor since the 60s. Fun fact: he is SO OLD (67). Another fun fact: the
Newsweek article compares Norris to George Washington.
So, the question is, why with the help of a martial arts actor is Huckabee
doing so well? “Norris has emerged as a dream celebrity "get" on the
Republican side” WHAT? Dream celebrity? Don’t you have to be a celebrity
to be a dream celebrity?
But the article calls this a “political triple play” … why? Because on the
campaign trail any endorser is a good one. So what if he is now reaching
the Youtube 18-22 generation? At least he has that. And yet, for some
reason older people like him too for random things he has apparently done
(like advocate Bible study in schools and his 60s movie days).
So, as one that sees things with a critical eye, why am I the only "reporter" to look at this issue and see the bigger picture: celebrity endorsers only help campaigns if they make the news. And this one made the news. In the long run, will the Norris endorsement aid Huckabee's campaign enough to win? Of course not.