Bill Clinton was in New Jersey last night stumping for Jon Corzine, who, with just a week left before the election, is still locked in a pitched battle with Republican Chris Christie. At one point in the speech, Clinton employed a couple of sports metaphors to describe the focus that voters need this year to avoid discouragement and keep Corzine in office. But as Talking Points Memo points out, the metaphors Clinton chose are quite peculiar indeed. The first casts the voter as a race-car driver who uses his concentration to avoid hitting a wall — recalling the time two years ago when the New Jersey governor literally did crash into a guardrail. In the second metaphor, the voter is a quarterback keeping his eyes downfield even as "300-pound behemoths" are trying to crush him. That wouldn't be noteworthy except that the Corzine campaign has been pretty blatantly playing up Chris Christie's weight. Which is probably why everyone giggled when Clinton said it. And why Corzine suddenly buttons up his suit jacket.

Bill Clinton Uses Sports Metaphors On Voting Calmly [TPM DC]