Wanna-be Congressman Dan Helmer, a Democrat who’s running in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District says his Republican opponent and incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock has “lost that centrist feeling.” Helmer’s self-indulgent political send-up of a scene from 1986’s Top Gun is getting a lot of play on YouTube and a heap of criticism, with many viewers wondering whether they should submit to a fit of hysterics or just wonder what Helmer was thinking.
Helmer became the butt of jokes after his plea for public office was cited on Twitter by Mic reporter Emily Singer as “the worst” of its kind.
The ad shows Helmer strutting around in a bar with a t-shirt proclaiming “veteran.” He strikes up a conversation with an attractive female patron who points out to Helmer that Rep. Comstock is also on the premises. “Bet you can’t get her to hold a town hall,” she dares Helmer.
“Town hall? I’ll do you one better than that. We’ve lost that loving feeling.”
“No Dan,” begs the woman, anticipating what’s coming next.
Helmer then belts out a suitably horrible rendition of a “You’ve Lost that Centrist Feeling,” sung to the tune of The Righteous Brothers’s 1960s hit, “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling.”
The candidate croons about Comstock becoming too far-right for Virginia voters due to her opposition to Obamacare and Planned Parenthood, while she eschews town hall meetings. Soon, everyone in the bar joins the chorus, hounding “Comstock” from the room.
“Nice work, Dan!” declares the approving woman patron.
The scene is rip-off of one from Top Gun where the tippling Maverick character navigates his way through a karaoke version of original song.
The Helmer Zone is another Top Gun reference to the “Danger Zone.”