Opinion: Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart dress as the Obamas (after a fashion)
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Be forewarned. Or, depending on the latitude you are willing to grant satire, rejoice.
On Friday, a variation on the controversial New Yorker cover drawing that caricatured Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, pops up on newsstands (it’s also in the mail to subscribers).
Getting into the act is Entertainment Weekly. Assuming roles of the Obamas at Comedy Central stalwarts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (barely recognizable in an Afro wig but sans glasses).
The two, whose shows have become must-stops for presidential wannabes (especially those seeking inroads with younger voters), hold forth -- out of character -- for EW. The Ticket was sent excerpts, most of which are a bit too off-color for us to pass along. But here are a couple of the non-profane ones that we found noteworthy.
Stewart expresses his disappointment that, in his view, the Obama/John McCain race has taken on a tenor comparable to the 2000 faceoff between George W. Bush and Al Gore and the ’04 contest between Bush and John Kerry.
‘I was convinced an Obama/McCain campaign would be measurably different on almost all standards,’ he says. ‘And to watch it become Bush/Kerry, Bush/Gore, has been one of the most dissatisfying experiences.’
Colbert chimes in: ‘That means it’s not an Obama/McCain campaign. It’s a Guys Who Work for Bush/Guys Who Work for Kerry campaign. Both sides have people who are just smart enough to know ‘We need to tweak this dial right here,’ so of course voters are divided 50/50 between the parties. ...’
Stewart also reflects on the phenomenon that has been the Sarah Palin candidacy -- and what it says about the media:
Everyone likes new and shiny. We’re bored. What’s great about that is [Democratic VP candidate Joe] Biden is an absolutely eccentric character. That’s how powerful Palin’s story is -- it has cast the first African-American presidential nominee, the oldest [non-incumbent] presidential nominee, and a really wild cork vice presidential candidate completely out of the picture. The press is 6-year-olds playing soccer; nobody has a position, it’s just ‘Where’s the ball? Where’s the ball? Sarah Palin has the ball!’ [Mimes a mob running after her.] Because they can only cover one thing.
-- Don Frederick