by Gunter Chang

Created on: January 08, 2008   Last Updated: March 19, 2008

At one time, political humor had absolutely no effect on elections except to either tarnish a victory or rub it in. Its function was simply to either amuse or irritate the assorted supporters at the expense of a politician. The dynamics of political heckling was simple: political humor directed at ones opponent was "funny", while such humor directed at one's own candidate was "bad taste" and contemptible. But, there were no large scale defections of supporters based solely on jokes made by stand-up comics or political cartoons. Supporters were not all one-dimensional and most could laugh at a well scripted joke without faltering in their support. Those were the good old days.

Things changed when the satirical news show evolved and actually became a source of "informed" satire. Candidates can now acquire the aura of being "funny" AND relevant whether they are or not. But like politics, humor is a perception sometimes only loosely based on reality. Once a dish best served cold, "political humor" now offers the warm embrace of amiable host who'll let you appear on their show for ratings. Thus, the "will- shill-for-food" crowd has created an unholy alliance between subtle satire and pure propaganda. While the illusion of humor is all that really matters, that is also the problem. Humor might make one appear less cold and calculating and more approachable, but it's also a cheap, cosmetic make-over requiring very short-exposure time in order to reap the longer self life of favorable public opinion. And the accuracy of that perception is more subjective than objective.

With the advent of satirical news shows, the candidate has gained a more "issue educated" audience, and thus panders to...that is...appeals to the demographics most likely to go out and vote. As a result, the possibility of securing an edge in the election by using political humor becomes the same as Pepsi using a celebrity in their commercials. Politicians now line up to appear on the most popular comedy talk shows because it makes them appear "hip and funny" and less "stuffy", appealing to younger and younger voters. Humor also helps soften the hard stands candidates are sometimes prone to take on issues that may be divisive, so shows like "The Daily Show" have become the soft focus, "Doris Day Lens" for politicians.
It's a symbiotic relationship since satire shows need actual noteworthy guests to maintain their "informed and relevant" status, and politicians need the comedy shows to appear multi-dimensional.

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