Partisan Punchlines

Everyone knows in times of conflict and stress, people often turn to humor as a way to cope. It is interesting the various ways people do this. Some can definitely dish it but have a hard time taking it. Others are very good-natured and don’t take themselves too seriously.

George Bush had a great sense of humor, so did Sarah Palin. It was a good thing, too. They were insulted mercilessly. I seriously doubt any one of their opponents could have handled it with such class. The ability to laugh at oneself shows a true strength.
It is especially interesting in such a stressful and public field as politics.

Humor can be a great tool to connect with the people. It can lighten the moment and endear you to the audience. When microphone problems interrupted Rudy Giuliani’s answer to a question in a CNN debate with Catholic bishops, he was told that it was because of the lightning. He laughed and said, “For someone who went to parochial schools his whole life, this is a very frightening thing.”

Palin’s spokesperson Tracey Schmitt told CBS that [Palin] thought that Tina Fey’s impersonation of her on SNL was funny. “The governor and the press corps watched the sketch in the back of her plane, laughing at Tina and Amy’s satirical take on the two politicians. She thought it was quite funny, particularly because she once dressed up as Tina Fey for Halloween.”

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, known for his wit, jokingly said he was going to ask satirist Stephen Colbert to be his running mate if he won. The Vulture blog reports in, Mike Huckabee Gives Stephen Colbert His Funniest Interview So Far, “Yes, he was funnier than Leno last Wednesday and got more laughs than Letterman on Monday… Which other candidate will protect us from the terrorists and make us laugh? Mike Huckabee for President of Earth!”

In the Democrat debate, people sent questions via video submissions from YouTube users. The atmosphere was a little edgier than usual. John Edwards, when asked to name something he doesn’t like about Clinton, stared at the brightly colored jacket she was wearing: “I’m not sure about that coat.”

Of course, no one likes being the butt of jokes, but I’ve found that often some of the more comedic sorts are the ones who can’t stand being laughed at.

The more overtly left leaning humorists all seem to have something in common. They are all obnoxious blowhards. Think Michael Moore, and Al Franken. The guys from Southpark show a lot more class than them. Oh yeah, they’re not flaming liberals.

Liberals tend to dominate the entertainment industry, and as such, they are dubious, if not combative of any Conservative influence. There are mixed reviews about Mike Judges’, The Goode Family, which pokes fun at Liberals. Liberals, not surprisingly, hate it because they can’t stand to be the butt of any jokes. They can dish it, but they can’t take it. Contrast Chevy Chase’s “moral problem” with SNL’s parody of Hilary Clinton, with his opinion that Fey should “go even harder on” and “decimate” Sarah Palin (video here).

Liberal humor tends to be more insulting and backbiting (Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot is just one example), whereas Conservative humor doesn’t feel it has to stoop that low. Not that Conservatives are completely innocent and not that Liberals are completely devoid of humor.

Take the confirmation hearings for Sonya Sotemayor, for instance. Al Franken lightened a, perhaps, tense situation with a humorous comparison of, well, something completely irrelevant, their shared love for Perry Mason. He likened the preparation for a job such as a Supreme Court Justice to watching Perry Mason day in and day out. Well, maybe he is kind of funny!

c. 2009