September 4, 2004
THE BUTT OF THE JOKE OBJECTS:
Bush, Republicans reduce John Kerry to a punch line (William Douglas, 9/03/04, Knight Ridder Newspapers)
Before a recent rally for President Bush in Las Cruces, N. M., campaign officials showed the crowd a video featuring John Kerry's shifting explanations of his stands on issues. The audience broke into laughter toward the end as a catchy theme from a popular `60s TV show accompanied the clip: "They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning/ No one you see is smarter than he." That tack was hardly unusual. In fact, on the campaign trail and at this week's Republican convention, Bush and other GOP speakers reduced Kerry to a punch line: a flip-flopping Boston Brahmin with a Senate record that's best used as joke fodder. [...]Kerry campaign officials aren't laughing. They say the Republican attempt to be funny at Kerry's expense has a vicious edge that often crosses the line. [...]
Experts on political humor say the zingers against Kerry serve two purposes: First, they allow Bush to go after his opponent without being seen as an attack dog.
"Humor has long been known as effective negative advertising and a way to deflect criticism upon the person making the negative attack because you laugh, if the joke is good," said Paul Gronke, the chairman of the political science department at Reed College in Portland, Ore. "Good political humor always has a biting edge to it."
The bite in the Kerry jokes, Gronke said, is designed to shrink Kerry, make him look un-presidential. "By bringing Kerry down a notch by not taking him seriously, this encourages the audience not to take Kerry seriously."
Second, using humor helps burnish Bush's image as the guy you'd like to have a beer with, said John Orman, a Fairfield University professor of politics and author of books on the role of celebrity and music in political campaigns.
"He wants to show that he's the affable, more approachable, more likable individual," Orman said. [...]
What's different about Bush's humor assaults on Kerry, Gronke and others say, is that it appears to be a big part of his campaign strategy.
That difference is the remarkable thing here. Even more so is that they identified the possibility that they could make him an object of ridicule 6 months ago, when he first became the front-runner. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 4, 2004 8:08 AM
Wouldn't anybody who knows Kerry immediately recognize him as laughable? A remarkable thing about Kerry's rise to the nomination is that it seemed hardly anyone in the Democratic establishment supported it. Kerry was like the lagging horse who sees all horses in front of him tumble in a cascading collision, and benefits from being so far back he can go around them for a clear run.
What is remarkable about the Bush team is that they stayed cool despite all the vilification. It's easy to know that one should respond to villainy with humor; to do it requires virtuous character.
Posted by: pj at September 4, 2004 10:28 AMLiberals think Al Franken, Margaret Cho, Janeane Garafolo and Whoopi Goldberg are funny. Conservatives think South Park, Drew Carey, Jackie Mason and Dennis Miller are funny.
That just about says it all.
OJ -- You've been making this object-of-ridicule observation for nearly six months. You know, it really might pay for reporters to read blogs rather than dismiss them. They might pick up a few story ideas.
Posted by: Melissa at September 4, 2004 4:03 PMAm I the only one starting to get really weary of words like "attack" and "assault" used to describe people who argue logically using actual true facts?
Posted by: Jeff Brokaw at September 4, 2004 4:23 PMIt's a classic case of dishing it out but not being able to take it. The bookstores are stacked high with tomes mocking, parodying, and lampooning Bush, yet when he deploys humor against Kerry, the Senator's campaign immediately does the crybaby act. Gee, folks, if that's the way you really feel, maybe you should pull those books and tell Margaret and Whoopi to change their routines.
Posted by: Joe at September 4, 2004 6:38 PMJoe,
My feeling is 'Keep whining.' There is nothing Americans hate more than a crybaby, except for a crybaby who got a taste of his own medicine and found out he didn't like it.
When I first heard of Whoopi Goldberg, she was doing a show on Broadway which was referred to as 'consciousness-raising humor.' When I heard that phrase, I was in my dorm watching the theatre review with some friends, and I immediately went into my Boris Badenov impression,'And after full day of activities here at Josef Stalin Re-Education Camp, you will be treated to three hours of consciousness-raising humor by our very own Comrade Whoopi.'
Posted by: Bart at September 5, 2004 11:55 AM