As election season becomes election month, top contenders are focusing on tying up swing states and trying not to tank debates. Connor Ratliff, the official presidential candidate of The Chris Gethard Show, has other priorities: putting the finishing touches on his new documentary, Old Enough To Be President: Connor Ratliff's 35-Year Journey To The White House (which premieres October 15 at 92YTribeca).
Ratliff’s campaign began as a one-off video for public access talk show TCGS, and quickly blossomed into a full-blown political powerhouse, branching out to include national events, a full staff, and celebrity endorsements. His platform is simple — he meets the Constitutionally mandated minimum age for [...]
A couple of Daily Show-related notes for you: first, the show will be heading to the Democratic National Convention this fall in Charlotte, NC, where they'll do shows from there from September 4-7. Presumably they'll be at the Republican convention as well but are still ironing out the details. And over the weekend former Daily Show head writer David Javerbaum wrote an op-ed humor piece for the New York Times entitled A Quantum Theory of Mitt Romney that is very much worth reading if you like seeing Mitt Romney be mercilessly mocked in our nation's most prestigious newspaper.
Ain't no laws against hypocrisy. The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC has harnessed the power of the double negative to ferociously attack negative campaign ads with their own negative campaign ad. It's a homeopathic remedy, like putting out a fire by lighting another raging fire on top of it. Full press release below:
This is a pretty great long article about Stephen Colbert, the other Stephen Colbert, and the new Stephen Colbert – the different levels of character he portrays on the Colbert Report and, increasingly, in the real world. It traces his political activity back to Colbert's Chicago roots, ultimately viewing the Colbert Super PAC as "an extended improvisation with no end in sight." The piece also gets into Colbert's history in a way not that isn't often covered, from childhood and his years as an aspiring serious actor to his reluctance to tie The Colbert Report to the news cycle. Get a-reading!
Here's an interview that Harry Jenkins did with Amber Day, author of Satire and Dissent: Interventions in Contemporary Political Debate. In her book, she looks at political comedians and satirists such as Colbert, Stewart, Michael Moore, Morgan Spurlock, the Yes Men and their effect on the political process. Here, she discusses whether or not watching a show like The Daily Show makes one cynical about politics. It's a pretty fascinating discussion. I think it very much depends on the type of political humor. Most of the traditional late-night comedians like Leno and Letterman do traffic in a more cynical form of political humor. The jokes are primarily aimed [...]
