Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., left, appears on Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004, in New York. (AP Photo/Conrad Mulcahy, HO)
Posted on 08/25/2004 3:56:31 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry argued Tuesday that Americans want a serious discussion of the important issues facing their nation ... while he was appearing on a television comedy show.
Ba-dum-bum.
So this is why Kerry eschewed traditional news outlets in favor of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"? To go on a fake newscast and make mostly fake news?
Certainly it's hard to picture Mike Wallace checking out Kerry's profile in the middle of a "60 Minutes" interview and remarking, as Stewart did: "I'm all Jew. You may be [one-fourth]. I got everything."
It's debatable whether Kerry, in his first national TV interview since political opponents launched their attack on his Vietnam War record, effectively torpedoed that controversy on Stewart's late-night program, which will be rerun at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. today.
The challenger did, however, stifle Stewart's suggestion that heiress wife Teresa Heinz Kerry gets a nickel every time someone uses ketchup.
"Would that it were, but use the ketchup a lot anyway," Kerry told Stewart, who is usually sharper than he was in chatting up the challenger on the critically acclaimed series that enjoys a reputation for shredding newsmakers and the news media that cover them.
The comedian often deflected potentially interesting questions even before asking them of the senator.
"I watch a lot of the cable news shows, so I understand that apparently you were never in Vietnam," Stewart joked, according to a transcript provided by Comedy Central.
"That's what I understand, too," Kerry said. "I'm trying to find out what happened."
Kerry said "most Americans would like to have a much more intelligent conversation about where the country's going," but Stewart's studio audience didn't seem to grasp the irony of Kerry making his case from a comedic platform.
"George Bush doesn't want to talk about the real issues," Kerry said. "I mean, what's he going to do? Come out and say we lost 1.8 million jobs? Four million Americans lost their health care. We're going backwards on the environment. We angered everybody in the world."
Cracked Stewart, affecting the gravitas of a real journalist: "Sir, I'm sorry. Were you or were you not in Cambodia on Christmas Eve?"
At one point, Stewart and Kerry leaned in and theatrically stared down one another as Stewart tried to engage Kerry by invoking some of the labels with which his opponents have tagged him.
Kerry denied that he is "the No. 1 most liberal senator in the Senate ... more liberal than Karl Marx, apparently,'' but he did own up to at least one charge leveled by his rivals.
''I've flip-flopped, flop-flipped,'' Kerry said. But he also maintained that "it doesn't help you to be stubborn in the wrong decision. I think the president's stubborn."
Too often, Kerry lapsed back into campaign stump speech material and Stewart, who only last month was incredulous when a group of TV critics named "The Daily Show" the top news and information program of the year, struggled to rein him in.
"As any good fake journalist should do, I watch only the 24-hour cable news," Stewart said. "I'll watch the TV and they'll say -- and this is in advertisements -- John Kerry wants our troops to go to war wearing only gabardine. You know? They'll say that you voted against the body armor, and yet they won't talk about what the vote was about and what the battle was."
"Hey," Kerry said, "wearing gabardine beats going to war the way this president sent our troops to war."
Though "The Daily Show" has routinely made fun of President Bush and his policies, a tack that no doubt played into Kerry's decision to visit, Stewart acted as though he were surprised the senator was happy to be talking to him.
"Mom, you better be recording this," Stewart said.
The moment recalled the evening 44 years ago when "Tonight Show" host Jack Paar asked another Democratic U.S. senator from Massachusetts running for president if it would be rude to refer to him on a first-name basis.
"That would be fine," John F. Kennedy said.
"Because if you make it," Paar said, "it would be nice for my daughter to know that we have this arrangement, you know."
It wasn't that long ago that Sen. John Edwards announced on "The Daily Show" that he was going to run for the Democratic presidential nomination, a bid he ultimately lost to Kerry, who chose him as his running mate.
"I think that's why he lost," Stewart said.
"No, he won," Kerry said. "He's about to win big time ... and, you know, maybe we can do the inauguration here, too."
"I have no problem with that," Stewart said.
I believe the word you're grasping for is "principled".
Trying to be fair and objective:
1. Stewart is obviously a liberal but doesn't seem mean-spirited;
2. Kerry appeared pretty relaxed and amiable. Granted, it was relatively easy to do so, knowing that Stewart was sympathetic;
3. above all, I was struck by how incredibly frail and tired Kerry looked. He actually looked pretty nice (remember, I'm trying hard to be fair here). But even taking into account that the campaign trail is a long and grueling haul, Kerry seemed tired and thin to the point of exhaustion. It really made me wonder if he's going to make it to November without collapsing, or whether he has a serious health problem.
That's the question everyone in the establishment media should be asking, considering that Kerry only asserted it in public 50 times, and said it was the turning point of his life, and that it was seared-SEARED into his memory. And the answer is?
Considering how desperately Stewart was to get anyone to ask Bush about whether or not he took a physical in the Alabama National Guard, you would think he'd want to know the answer to this. It's not like Bush cited his National Guard physical as the cornerstone of his existence.
The first stop on the "Try to make Kerry appear marginally human" reinvention tour...
Kerry's handlers trying to change the subject. It won't work.
I guess not Monseur Kerry. It didn't take you a second to call all American soldiers rapists and murderers once you got back to the states.
You have no problem in quickly making a wrong decision.
Let's hope America makes the right one on Nov. 2nd.
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., left, appears on Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004, in New York. (AP Photo/Conrad Mulcahy, HO)
Bump!
I would actually like to see GW on the Daily Show. Their audience is twice to three times as large as any cable news show, and it's mostly young people. Many who need a kick in the ass to vote. It was probably a good move on Kerry's part.
Bush is not good at "trying" to be funny.
He often looks like a deer in the headlights when he attempts this.
His strength is talking from the heart.
The Daily Show is very popular among middle schoolers and young high schoolers because they get to say the word "ass" on TV. I guess after all this time, they finally showed the kiddies what one really looked like...
Remember, he had a major operation for prostate cancer. Rudy Guiliani dropped out of his senate race because of this but Kerry kept plugging on. It must be taking a toll on him.
He looks like Col. Pickering from My Fair Lady.
LOL!!
After a major surgery like that you are supposed to rest and recuperate for a long period. So what did Kerry tell the doctors? Most likely something like, "Sure...after I run a grueling campaign for president."
I'm sorry, Mr Kerry. But I don't think that the American public will simply 'laugh off' the lies that you have made for the last 35 years. Nice try though......
I guess he will take a couple of vacations between now and Election Day. (laughing)
I did immediately think about Kerry's prostate cancer. In fairness, it's impossible to know what's going on. The rigors of the campaign trail are incredible, and it's possible that Kerry was simply operating on very little sleep. And in fairness, his frailness and exhaustion aside, he actually looked good. Time will tell if there's a serious problem. Perhaps he will get extended bed rest during the GOP convention.
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