Consider this piece of political-humor history: On October 3, Al Gore debated George Bush in the first nationally televised debate of the 2000 election. The two traded comments over social security, and many thought the debate went solidly to Gore. A CNN tracking poll from October 5 (two days after the debate) put Gore ahead of Bush by 9 points. Two days later, SNL ran a famous skit in which Gore and Bush discussed social security with a recurring reference to the "lockbox." After another two days, the same poll had Bush with an eight point lead. The depictions of the characters in the SNL debate had turned the public against Gore, though of course Gore clawed his way back. The lesson here is that humor matters enormously (see here).
In fact, humor probably matters even more, as some studies show that today's young are even more impressed with humor and responsive to jokes. A recent poll said that 88% of young people view humor as critical to their self-conception. And what's more, the informal study conducted by Comedy Central (kind of a market-testing type thing) showed that millennials are one of the first generations to privilege humor over music as their preeminent form of self-expression.
This is not surprising, as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert dominate the political discussion among millennials. Philosophically, it's interesting to note this approach to humor, which subverts the blustery rhetoric of retail politics and presents opportunities to address problems in new ways.
Given the importance of humor, speculation about what young people will do in 2012 should turn partly on the wider media culture and how seriously the candidates take themselves. And I'll give you a hint, it doesn't bode well for either Obama or Romney (who I'm deceptively using as "frontrunner" in this piece).
Romney's sense of humor, probably more than his policies, will hurt him with young people. He's the kind of robotically funny kid we all knew in school. I feel for him; his jokes just don't resonate with a culture that's ruder than his prim Mormon upbringing (and that's not just speculation, it's confirmed by his friends and acquaintances in this biography). To get a taste of his weirdness, just remember back to his claim that he was "unemployed too," which he gave in response to a group of Floridians explaining their joblessness. He laughed after he said that too. And in New Hampshire, he had this gem: “I saw the young man over there with eggs Benedict, with hollandaise sauce with the eggs there ... And I was going to suggest to you that you serve your eggs with hollandaise sauce in hubcaps. Because there’s no plates like chrome for the hollandaise.”
I don't have any ready examples of Santorum's on-the-trail humor, but his buddy Foster Friess made an offensive joke about women keeping aspirin between their legs as a contraceptive. Santorum was forced to walk back a joke that wasn't even his. “It was a bad joke, it was a stupid joke. It’s not reflective of me or my record on this issue. ... This is the same gotcha politics that you get from the media and I’m just not going to play that game." One recent measurement of Santorum's general appeal (not really a measurement of his humor), was a Michgan poll that put him way ahead of Romney as someone that respondents would want to have a beer with.
Obama hasn't fared much better either. His State of the Union speech had the "spilled milk" joke that was a groaner. Nonetheless, Obama seems unable to lose his somewhat cool aura. As our cameraman at PolicyMic put it, Obama seems "like just a cool guy." Maybe it has to do with the beer summit he held. Maybe Obama wins on that metric against Santorum? Further polling is needed.
Photo Credit: chillinsuch1818
The Discussion
Jordan,
My first reaction to this piece was my usual sadness that SNL and Comedy Central are playing such pivotal roles in this election. But as I was reading, and your premise is valid, one name came to mind that gave me a different perspective..Will Rogers.
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I hope Millennials realize that snark (the humor of choice for Millennials) is not equivalent being a good president. The problems a president is going to have to face are not going to melt away because of clever word play and cutting zingers.
We are hiring a person for a job, not to be our entertainment, and we should focus on the skills and abilities that fit the job description.
This concept seems terribly vain to me. Basically this says, "Millenials want to elect someone that acts like them," as if its self-validating that someone "like them" could run a country. I personally would rather have a president with the advantage of age and wisdom, even if unrelateable and dry.
I admire your journalistic restraint. That's the only thing that could have led you to write this hilarious sentence: "Maybe Obama wins on that metric against Santorum?"
Obama:
White House Correspondent's dinner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9mzJhvC-8E
The lines were written by someone else, but the delivery and timing are pretty solid.
Also a few off the cuff moments:
Does a Jay-Z (I think?):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZJex9Ge2-Q
Kills a fly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ2H1K_0FXw
Just being cool (Al Green):
http://youtu.be/y6uHR90Sq6k
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What a gas it was to listen to Willard say how he loved Michigan, the trees were the right height and the grass was the same color. He likes lakes and cars....I swear I thought he was gonna pull a Brick and say I like carpet, I like lamp. What a cardboard cutout.
As for Santorum I'll just laugh at his centuries old outlook on women and reproduction.
It's not humour per se that the public looks for in candidates. It's indications of that candidate being relateable and a human being. In many ways candidates have to act like robots to avoid human mistakes and hurt their candidacy. But still they need to find a way to still appear human to the voters.
This is why Romney is so bland to voters. He is so afraid to make a mistake, ($10,000 bet anyone?) that he does not allow himself to show his true self. Obama to a degree is similar, but nevertheless he appears a lot more human than Romney (actually everybody except Robocop seems more human)
One example of a guy who shows his human side is Gov. Christie. Although I don't agree with him mostly, he seems to be a red blooded true human being.
Comedians do have an impact on elections and the reputations of candidates. Sometimes humor is not meant to be hurtful and at other times it is. The Dan Quayle "tomato" misspelling in 1992 is a perfect example. A lot of people didn't thing Dan was the sharpest knife in the draw. So when he spelled a word incorrectly, the press and comedians cut him to ribbons. There are numerous posts on the Internet to this day, and 20 years has passed since the incident.
Other comedians poke fun at the mannerisms of politicians. Once again, sometimes it's done in jest and other times it's meant to demean. In the 1970s, Chevy Chase roasted President Ford for being clumsy. I'm sure Chevy is a Democrat, but the skits were not so insulting, in my opinion. Whereas, the skits that spoofed GW Bush were meant to portray him as an idiot.
Comedians are protected by free speech and so pols must have a thick skin. But, there is no doubt that a repeated attack on mannerisms and blunders by pols by the entertainment industry can have an effect on their status.
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How do you arrive at the conclusion that one comedy skit turned the public against Al Gore?? What data do you have to support that claim? I kind of agree with Susan, we aren't electing a comedian in chief. Calvin Coolidge wasn't much fun but he was a great president!
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Jordan, I think you're confusing political humor with political humorists - i.e. comedians.
Go see my comment over on Jake's piece about Stephen Colbert's voice in the campaign for further insight into America's tradition of political humor.
Candidates and office holders AREN'T required to BE funny, although it does help if they have a healthy sense of humor. One notices in passing that neoFascists, such as Rick Santorum, are sadly lacking in this area.
Comedians - people like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey and Steve Martin - ARE required to be funny. If they're not; they don't get work. The writers on SNL who wrote the sketch about the Gore/Bush debate and the comedians who acted it out picked up on something in the actual event that they could exaggerate into a humorous situation.
Do please, keep some perspective about this.