Politics as punch line

Philosophy major Joe Harper has never voted in a presidential election. He doesn't know yet whom he'll vote for this fall. He is clear on one thing, however.

"I'm not watching the evening news to figure it out, that's for sure," says the 21-year-old college student. His favorite sources of information about the candidates are the ones increasingly favored by the under-30 crowd, the comedy of Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" and "anything" from Bill Maher. "I trust these guys," says Mr. Harper. "Their stuff is funnier, but it's also truer."

Harper is clearly not a lone voice. The number of young adults turning to late-night comedy and talk shows for political insight doubled from 10 to 20 percent in the past four years, according to a recent study of some 1,500 adults by the Pew Research Center. And, say the pundits of presidential politics, this is really just a part of a deeper trend: More voters of all ages are using comic relief as a tool to cut through the media circus of modern political campaigns.

"Comedy has always been the best way to tell the truth," says film director Robert Altman, whose cult TV classic, "Tanner 88," a satirical series about a fictional presidential candidate in the 1988 election, returns with updates by the original cast this week on the Sundance Channel. "Young people turn to comedy and satire because they want the truth," Mr. Altman says. "If you really want to know what's going on behind closed doors and inside politicians' minds, sometimes the only way to get at it is through humor."

The proliferation of media choices has just made it that much easier to do, says Steffen Schmidt, a professor at Iowa State University, who is still hoarse from his many media appearances during last week's Iowa caucuses.

"There are so many more ways to cut down pompous elites," says the professor. Modern politicians from John F. Kennedy through Howard Dean have tapped the power of the late-night talk show hosts to show viewers what regular guys they were.

But now, "there are so many outlets, so many more ways to reach people. And laughter sells." People don't have time to make sense of things, particularly complex issues. Humor is an easy shortcut to tap into current events. "What we're talking about," says Mr. Schmidt, "is the oldest form of communication that has existed since the first caveman leader stepped on a club and whacked himself and everybody laughed about it down at the Brontosaurus Club for weeks."

If there's any doubt that comedy has entered the world of mainstream political commentary in a big way, consider that in just the past week or so, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw wrapped up his State of the Union address coverage by interviewing Jon Stewart.

Howard Dean made his bid to recover from his Iowa scream by allowing David Letterman to make him list the Top Ten ways to recover from his political howler. And humorist Dave Barry opined as a regular commentator on Chris Matthews' regular show that instead of using political wives to stand behind them, candidates ought to use prisoners because that would give voters a better idea of the job requirements.

Comedy is also an easy detour for a public figure who's beset by serious questions. "Politicians use comedies and nighttime talk shows to promote themselves and avoid the kind of questions reporters routinely ask," says Stephanie Larson, associate professor of political science at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.

Of course, politicians are not the only ones looking for alternatives. "The networks want to promote their products," she says. "The network news draws viewers to its late night shows by inserting clips from [them]." Comedian Dennis Miller was "all over CNBC and MSNBC as a 'guest' just before he came out with his show."

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