A Stewart-Colbert Ticket?

Washington Post

Dear Stumped,

To what extent are young people changing the way campaigns are run? For me and most of my friends, Comedy Central is our chief source of news. So the candidate we are most familiar with is Mike Huckabee. But if front-running candidates decide comedy programs like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" are beneath them, couldn't they lose a key demographic? Is it possible that people like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert could become respected pundits because of their appeal to younger Americans?

-- Joe Lewis

Dear Joe,

Stewart and Colbert are already respected pundits in my book, their satire as insightful as any political commentary out there. Their absence, because of the writers' strike, in the weeks leading up to the Iowa caucus was a real blow to our national political discourse (and a relief, no doubt, to gaffe-prone candidates), and maybe we would have seen more candidates on their shows if they hadn't been off the air then. But most candidates do appreciate the need to engage voters through humor, even if it means appearing on shows that often mock them, such as Leno's or Letterman's.

And it should be a no-brainer. No matter how much Leno, Letterman and Stewart take on candidates in their monologues, these guys are gentle interviewers. It's hard for a candidate to hurt himself or herself going on those shows. (Colbert's show is a different, and more dangerous, beast.)

It is interesting that plenty of foreign personalities recognize the importance of Stewart and Colbert. Just off the top of my head, I can recall watching Evo Morales, Pervez Musharraf and Vicente Fox on Comedy Central. Clearly, they understand you have to start indoctrinating people when they are young and impressionable!