Here now is the next installment of our regular series — the Joke Reality Check — in which we put jokes told on the campaign trail or in the media or in the general political discussion through a VIP check-up and washing. We check whether jokes are stolen, poorly-premised, or poorly written or delivered. And we offer strategic advice to improve the attempt.  If we’re not too lazy.

When we read this about John McCain’s meeting with President Bush last week …

McCain, an Arizona senator, picked up the president’s endorsement for his candidacy while dining on something simple: a hot dog.

“He said he was having a hot dog, so I had a hot dog,” McCain, referring to Bush, told reporters on his campaign plane during a flight to Florida …

… we thought we could go one of two ways with dissecting the joke.

One, we could go the difficult route and note the similarity between McCain’s line and that used in connection with other aging presidentially-ambitious Senators …

Bob Dole on following Strom Thurmond’s example at Capitol Hill receptions. “If he takes a shrimp, I take a shrimp. If he takes a banana, I take a banana.”

Or, we could go the easier — and arguably more satisfying route — by showing this …

Yeah, I’m with you.  Let’s just show the photo.  It worked for John Kerry.