[Before I begin, I just want to point out that this is Hillary's joke, not mine. This really happened.]

Hillary Clinton, today, speaking to the press:

This has been a very hard fought race. We need to do something so that our party and our people can make the right decision. So I have a proposal: today I am challenging Senator Obama to a bowl-off. A bowling night right here in Pennsylvania. Winner take all. I'll even spot him two frames.

It's time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all of the pins to be counted. And I'm prepared to play this game all the way to the tenth frame. And when this game is over the American people will know when that phone rings at 3:00 A.M. they’ll have a president who's ready to bowl on day one. So let's strike a deal and go bowling for delegates. We don't have a moment to spare.

Because it's already April Fool's Day. So happy April Fool's Day everyone.

I have to say, this one was right down my alley. [Ahem. OK, I'll stop with the bowling puns, I promise.]

But seriously, or rather "not seriously," I have to take my hat off to Senator Clinton for this announcement, for two reasons. In fact, the title of this article should really be "Hillary picks up a 7-10 split." [That was a bowling metaphor, not a pun!] Because she really accomplished two things with this performance.

Firstly, she induced a bit of levity into the contest. This is more important than it sounds, because of late there has been so little of it. With all the vitriol brewing amongst Democrats, we all needed a "lighten up!" moment, and Clinton delivered admirably on this front. Love her or hate her, you have to admit this was funny! Barack Obama recently publicly bowled a dismal 37 in seven frames, so the subject was totally fair game. And this time, Hillary did exactly the right thing by poking fun at him in this way. Plus, like I said, the joke itself was good enough for Leno or Letterman.

Secondly, there are a lot of bowlers in Pennsylvania, and probably quite a few in Indiana too. While this joke probably isn't going to convince anyone to change their minds in the voting booth, it will make a lot of blue-collar people a lot happier when voting for her. This is the kind of joke which reaches out to the league-night crowd and says: "I get you. I can even make you laugh."

In short, it was a masterful piece of political humor. I have to say "Well done, Hillary" because she really threw a strike with this one.

The Obama camp has responded with an offer to settle the race on "Dancing With The Stars."

OK, I made up that last one. Happy April Fool's Day!

-- Chris Weigant