Haiku D'Etat: The Endorsements Could Be Verse

In the ever-swirling pool of Republican presidential candidates, political endorsements — formal and informal — are being tossed around like life jackets. Will they help the struggling wannabes sink or swim?

"Endorsements are only one of many cues that determine how a person votes," says Robert C. Wigton, a political science professor at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"Some endorsements can backfire. If you're running as a political outsider, and get an endorsement from an establishment person or entity, that might hurt," Wigton says. He also suggests that a stamp of approval from a celebrity may not have a lick of meaning.

Even so, there still can be poetry in the panegyric. Here, in haiku form, is a look at the present state of political support:

Dan Quayle's approval
Could make Willard "Mitt" Romney
One hot potatoe

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Is Jon Huntsman's cause
Helped more by Michael Moore, or
Mustachioed kids?

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Chuck Norris won't just
Help Ron Paul be president.
He'll make it happen

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Is Rick Santorum
George Washington incarnate
As Glenn Beck suggests?

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Michele Bachmann says —
With Wayne Newton at her side —
"I'm ... thrilled!" Danke Schoen!

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To lead the union
Manchester's Union-Leader
Turns to Newt Gingrich

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Rick Perry upholds
Truth, justice, American way
— Superman Dean Cain

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We hope Basho approves this message. And we challenge you to post some better political haiku of your own in the comments section below.