Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Today's Hoot!

I guess the kids weren't wild about Lurch's appearance on The Daily Show. Over at Slate, Dana Stevens provides If He Only Had a Heart: John Kerry tanks on The Daily Show:
When my boyfriend and I heard that John Kerry was slated to be the guest on last night's Daily Show, we all but raced to the TiVo to set it on record. (Not that we ever miss The Daily Show anyway, but this would be one worth keeping.) What a "get" for Jon Stewart, the court jester of the 2004 election! And finally Kerry would have the chance to step down from the campaign stump and show people who are desperate for a reason to vote for him what he's really made of: his passion, his conviction, his much-vaunted (at least by his wife) sense of humor. Except, as Jon Stewart has been known to say: Eh, not so much.

From the moment the senator appeared and sat down on the gray sofa where, just last week, Bill Clinton basked in the audience's applause like a cat lapping up cream, Kerry's charisma was less than zero: It was negative. He was a charm vacuum, forced to actually borrow mojo from audience members. He was a dessicated husk, a tin man who really didn't have a heart. His lack of vibrancy, his utter dearth of sex appeal made Al Gore look like Charo. (I've always found Al Gore sort of hot, actually, like a stuffy high school principal just begging to be broken down. But I have some issues with authority.) [ed. - sheesh!]

Watching Kerry strike out was especially heartbreaking given that Stewart was pitching not just softballs but marshmallows. Puffy interview marshmallows with rainbow sprinkles on them, and Kerry was letting them sail by as if he planned to get to first base on a walk.
I saw a comment the other day that Stewart was "probably getting his tongue polished." Ouch.

More by following the link and the Instapundit has a roundup:
'WERE YOU OR WERE YOU NOT IN CAMBODIA?" John Kerry didn't answer.

UPDATE: Yeah, this is damning for Kerry -- but it's also damning for the professional press corps that the first time he got asked the question to his face was on The Daily Show. Part of that, of course, is because Kerry has been avoiding the press since the issue came up...
More by following that link too.