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Obama Nails it on The Daily Show
Obama was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight. He was relaxed, had an easy smile, and busted some good jokes (including one about Jon's paranoia qualifying him to be a debate moderator). Great stuff!
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Comments (84)
Is there a link for us elitists who don't have TVs?
April 21, 2008 11:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.thedailyshow.com/ will have it at some point.
youtube will have it soon most likely
Obama's website should also have the video up soon
April 21, 2008 11:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, it's up now, along with the rest of last night's Daily Show—including a revealing take on middlefinger-gate.
April 22, 2008 7:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
My impression: he was in full-press praise Hillary mode. He wants to keep all of that 23% (of Hillary supporters who said they'd vote McCain) in the Democratic party after he seals up the nomination. Even the night before the PA primary, he's thinking more about that, than about winning the primary.
April 22, 2008 7:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nah, I think he knew full well that Jon would do the anti-Hillary work for him. It's too risky on a comedy show to be anything but positive - Hillary was equally upbeat when she appeared the night before the Texas/Ohio elections.
I also think he came across very well, if a little long-winded in parts. Much, much better than last time (i think) that he appeared on the show in person, back in 2007. That performance was *rubbish*.
April 22, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary was on her stump speech right before Texas... it was a bit like being at a campaign event and kind of sad.
April 22, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Used to be they appeared at about noon the next day on their site - just Google 'The Daily Show', look under recent videos if it isn't highlighted right below the main header. They might be posting them more rapidly now - but this clip will certainly be there tomorrow if not sooner.
April 21, 2008 11:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
C&L has it.
April 22, 2008 1:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
For some reason, I don't see anything on C&L; however, looks like Huffington Post has it up: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/21/barack-obama-on-the-daily_n_97889.html
April 22, 2008 2:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
I knew about the secret plan to take the Oath on the Qu'ran but enslaving the white race? He's gone too far
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=166515&title=barack-obama-pt.-1
April 22, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jon Stewart just told Obama to check out Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh.
Excellent appearance!
Are you happy with your cell phone service?
April 21, 2008 11:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Primanti Brothers is overrated. Fries in your sandwich. As an occasionally wise person once said, woop-dee-doo.
April 21, 2008 11:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
French fry sandwich -- brilliant!
April 21, 2008 11:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is that like a saltado sandwich? If you dump in some BBQ sauce, my husband would think he had died and gone to heave. Remind me not to take him to Pittsburgh.
April 22, 2008 12:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
If he eats a sandwich like that he may very well die. I don't know about the going to heaven part, since I don't believe in it myself, but I wouldn't want to die from a sandwich!
April 22, 2008 7:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Leave it to Pittsburgh to come up with a paradigm changing sandwich. As I understand the history, truckers used to ask for their fries in their sandwiches, instead of on the side, because they were easier to eat behind the wheel. Not so many truckers in Pittsburgh these days, but the sandwich stuck.
Primanti Bros isn't bad, but it's not something that I ever felt obliged to write home about. Pittsburgh has many excellent qualities. Haute cuisine is not one of them. (But now I'm being an elitist snob.)
April 22, 2008 12:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
I prefer Kaya, which is a few blocks up on the Strip, on the warehouse side. It's a Caribbean menu with a lot of great vegeterian dishes. There was a good Vietnamese place on the Strip for awhile, too, but I think they're gone now.
April 22, 2008 1:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey - don't knock french fry sandwiches! The best sandwich I ever had was fresh french fries piled into a crusty french roll with just a hint of mayo. Where did I have this perfect health food, you ask? Well, actually in France!
Now I am off to hunt You Tube and Comedycentral.com for Barack's appearance on The Daily Show.
April 22, 2008 12:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's sooo elitist.
April 22, 2008 12:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, this one was good. Not because Obama scored any points or pushed any messages--indeed, just the opposite. After hearing both candidates stick relentlessly to talking points and prepared litanies (some more than others--see Hillary's robo-filibustering on tonight's Countdown), it was a breath of fresh air to be able to watch a couple of genuine and likable guys just chill for a bit.
PS: I've also heard Primanti's is overrated.
PPS: I was touched by Stewart's post-discussion remark: What with all the hope and change talk, I want to know just how THIS particular president is going to disappoint us in the end?
Rather than seeming cynical, Stewart delivered the line in that hopeful-yet-wounded-and-nervous vein that so many of us are so well acquainted with. We want so badly to think that this time things will be different; that there can be a real sea-change in American politics. But the last seven years have caused us to narrow our horizons, hedge our bets, and assume the worst. Stewart, then, asks a very legitimate question: Can we begin to believe again?
April 22, 2008 12:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
north aufzoo asks,
"Can we begin to believe again?"
We have to. Look at our alternatives.
April 22, 2008 12:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
This has to do with you, me and all Obama supporters. You have to actively support the ideas you believe in. That is Obama's message. He wants to engage in dialog and figure out solutions to problems that we can all agree with. Your job isn't to vote for Obama, it's to convince your friends and family that national health care is a good idea. Your job is to support Obama's ideas. This isn't about Obama, this is about what is the best ideas we have at this time.
April 22, 2008 1:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
And what are Obama's ideas? Healthcare?
Even Elizabeth Edwards agrees that Hillary's plan is better.
Progressive columnist Krugman says Obamas could never even be implemented, and it is to the right of Clinton's.
But it's stupid to say anything to people whose minds are closed tight.
You don't know a thing about Obama.
You don't know a thing about Hillary Clinton.
You just follow the dog whistle.
April 22, 2008 1:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
And you just follow the spin machine talking points.
April 22, 2008 3:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps worse, a dark and cynical soul masquerading as realism. If I wanted to solve a problem, and had to pick my teammates (you know, like dodge ball), I would pick slumlord last.
April 22, 2008 8:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
You must have great healthcare to dismiss Clinton on this matter. The Obomb is doing Republican Lite and you look the other way. Hope no one you love gets sick under president O.
April 22, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, a candidate who actually say something.
Boo Hillary.
Better to just sit and sniff Obama's after shave.
April 22, 2008 1:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Scumlord, do you ever take time off from being an ass and just enjoy life? Nobody gives a shit about your stupid comments. Go have a beer and relax a little.
April 22, 2008 1:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just let slummy rant. He/she isn't hurting anybody. Like one of those crazy homeless people ranting to themselves as they shamble down the street, it is better to just avoid eye contact and let them have their own space, and move on.
April 22, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, I'm no fan of a big pile of meat and french fries on a big roll, either, but Primanti's is a Pittsburgh working class institution. Those sandwiches were fuel for the guys that busted hump all day moving the produce around that came in from the outlying farms by truck and railroad, and went out to the markets that fed the people of Pittsburgh, from steelworkers to bankers. Let's not get a Wolfgang Puckish with Primanti's. If Obama wanted to connect with the blue-collar crowd, it would have been a good stop for him.
April 22, 2008 1:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
The sense I got when I was recently in Pittsburgh (canvassing! BOOM) is that Primanti's has become something of a tourist destination (a la Ben's Chili Bowl in DC, or Grimaldi's or Junior's in Brooklyn). I've got no doubt the sandwiches are still top-notch, but it's possible that in becoming an institution, Primanti's lost the lunch bucket crowd (whatever that means).
So that's my two cents... not trying to pick fights with Primanti's partisans or anything. But whatever the merits of that specific restaurant, I'm sure we can all agree that Pittsburgh is one fucking cool town.
April 22, 2008 2:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
In the end, I was just afraid to hope. I remember the sense of hope that RFK brought with him - even though I was just 7 at the time, I remember the hope he carried with him. It wasn't hard to miss in the grownups around me, and I remember the way the country just lurched from one crisis to the next for the rest of 1968.
The next time I felt there was a hope like that was 1992 for Bill Clinton. I should have known that, just three weeks after the election, I saw "impeach clinton" bumper stickers on cars in Lancaster County, that Republicans were never going to accept him as President. And then he (and, from what I've read, Hillary too) abandoned their principles after the 1994 elections.
This time I was reluctant to support Obama because I found myself afraid of being disappointed again.
April 22, 2008 4:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's why, once he's elected, we progressives have to hold his feet to the fire, and make sure his good policies get implemented. Since his coattails will bring in a bigger Democratic majority, he'll be in a good position to make this happen. And, unlike Clinton, he seems a lot more likely to listen to the Democrats' real base -- liberals, progressives, young people, and African-Americans.
April 22, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think his feet will need fire, but his plans sure will need widespread public support, and not just lip service. If we are not willing to move beyond just blogging, get out into the neighborhoods, sit on the committees, and constantly speak out to make the support for his changes, those great hopes we're clinging to will not be realized and his presidency will be as great a failure as Mr. Clinton's was.
The difference is that Mr. Clinton never asked anything of us, the Clintons really don't understand what happened to them. They don't understand that all they had to do was ask and organize us to work with them.
When Mr. Obama puts up a call for applicants for his Summer Organizing Internships, like he did 3 weeks ago on the front page of his site, one gets the feeling that he has a better understanding of how hard it's going to be and what he's going to need to fulfill his charming rhetoric.
If we let him down, he's not the only one who loses.
April 22, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I highly recommend Darian Dauchan's poem from the Urbana Poetry Slam, called "Damn You, Obama."
It expresses the same sentiments that you've expressed here - only...different. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, you'll love it. Another poster here recommended and I've been spreading it around ever since.
Check it out!
April 22, 2008 8:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, Comedy Central is been very reliable with the day-after schedule... If they didn't get they Colbert Report with all three candidates up early, I doubt they'll do anything special with this. Best I can find on YouTube is this 40-second clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WocCLlyP9Tc (But hopefully someone will post more soon!)
April 22, 2008 12:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
French fry sandwiches. Sounds very unAmerican...
April 22, 2008 1:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
So anyway, back to the comedy...
What I liked about Obama's appearance was that he was so relaxed and enjoying it. Stewart (who I think is more of a Hillary fan) had him cracking up a few times, even with the more acidic digs. He also didn't mind reading the lines Jon gave him (cellphones and edie brickell) and being self-effacing is always a good quality. It reminds me of how human Bob Dole became, after he lost in '96, on SNL (and did he do the Daily Show, too?).
April 22, 2008 2:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Stewart (who I think is more of a Hillary fan) ..."
not at all. Jon Stewart has said on air that an Obama-McCain contest will be good for America. he, like many of us, probably started out happy to see Clinton run, but i suspect that he would only be pro-Hillary nowadays in the sense that the stench of hypocrisy, phoniness, and desperation from the Clinton Campaign (followed inevitably by another 4 years of Republican stupidity and incompetence) would be good for the satire business. the "Mark Penn = Jabba the Hutt" jokes would keep them on easy street for at least the next 6 months. (and now we can also look forward to McCain-Hillary duets of "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran".)
April 22, 2008 2:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
I only got to see the short clip on Huffington Post, but the two seem to have great repartee. Great minds think a like. Honestly haven't seen a more media savvy politican since I saw Bill in '92 when he graceed the Arsenio Hall show with his sax performance. Hows that for some nostalgia? Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!
April 22, 2008 6:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, Primanti's has become a tourist destination, Pittsburgh's answer to the Hard Rock Cafe. In the old days, Primanti's operated in the "Strip District" (no, not that kind of stripping) where all the warehouses were. They were open very late, so the crowd mixed late-night partyers and warehouse workers getting off the 2nd shift. The workers eyed the college kids kind of suspiciously, but everyone got along after a few (more) beers. Kind of what the Democratic Party used to be . . . and still should be . . . and might be if a certain candidate would stop driving a wedge between them!
April 22, 2008 7:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Even worse, is Stewart a McCain fan?????
I've notice Stewart has usually been harder on Obama than either HRC or JSM.
April 22, 2008 9:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
John has appeared on the Daily Show about 9 times. Jon and John had a very friendly relationship, and Jon had great respect for John's straight-talk express. However, after John spoke at Liberty University, Jon grilled him hard. And, when John supported the surge, Jon grilled him even hard. As far as I can tell, Jon has lost a great deal of respect for John.
April 22, 2008 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
There was one interview with McCain last year where both of them were getting heated. Stewart was hitting a sore spot about Iraq the regular journalists don't touch -- I can't remember it exactly, but it was something like why were we lied into a fuckup that just won't end? This agitated McCain, who pretended to jokingly raise his hand against Stewart, and then let out a stressed "ha-ha-ha" as if he were just joking.
April 22, 2008 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but was Jon really hard on Johm?
April 22, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
So if Obama's healthcare policy is to the right of Clinton's and stands no chance of being implemented, what does that mean for the chances of Clinton's policy being implemented?
April 22, 2008 10:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Your insolence will not be tolerated!
April 22, 2008 11:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!!!!! FOR HILLARY!!!!!!!!
April 22, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
He nailed Jon Stewart you say? I didn't realize he was a switch hitter.
April 22, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Your pleas for being understood and respected are so far in the review mirror now. I cannot believe I semi-believed them.
April 22, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
It might not have been funny, but it's hardly worse than some of the jokes that we've made. Maybe not you, but I could see myself stooping to a similar joke. Well, if it were actually funny, of course. :P
April 22, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I readily admit it. My wife and kids would confer. I am still in the 3rd grade as far as humor is concerned. I actually thought it was funny. Though not everyone has my humor. Tommy Boy was funny to me. Go figure.
April 22, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I am still in the 3rd grade as far as humor is concerned."
And only where humor is concerned?
Sorry, Louis, when you pitch a lob like that, someone has to swat it out of the park!
April 22, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fish in a barrel.
April 22, 2008 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can I direct you here. This isn't my sort of humor.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/04/hillary-rodham-clinton-a-thief.php
April 22, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Try on a sense of humor.
April 22, 2008 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just because your attempt to joke flopped, doesn't mean the audience doesn't have a sense of humor. Maybe it was just a pathetically bad joke.
Colbert, for example, does a great job using the double meaning of the word "nailed" in his interviews.
April 22, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. Just remind me to keep the day job.
April 22, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I watched 2 things last night. Hillary on Keith's show and Obama on the Daily Show. Two completely different things of course - with different purposes - but what a contrast! Did anyone see Hillary? It made me really uncomfortable to watch her. I'm sure doing Keith's show was hard for her - he has been very hard on her lately. But wow - it was kind of excruciating.
April 22, 2008 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I watched both, and I didn't think she did that bad of a job. Sure her Iran thing was disconcerting, and had a nervous laugh when Scaife was brought up, but I didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable watching her. I did find it hilarious when she suggested that giving a good speech could help solve our energy problems (at about 4:40 into the clip). Oh, here is a link, for those wanting to see what I'm talking about.
(I find it hilarious not because she's wrong, but because she's right.)
April 22, 2008 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was a good interview. Gotta be hard for her and really keith to do it since she was behind him on most of his takes previously. Can't imagine a lot of healing going on in that relationship no matter what happens.
April 22, 2008 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
We're in complete agreement. Considering how awkward it might have been, I thought it went very well. Still love the speech comment, though. ;)
April 22, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Keith was being a real gentleman about the whole thing. She's down and almost out, decency says you have to let someone retain their dignity.
April 22, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Am I the only one who noticed Hillary's creepy, weird, inappropriate laugh erupting when Olberman asked about why, since the Richard Mellon Scaife was one of the Clintons' main foes in the '90s, she met with him recently?
Googled... here's a bit on it from Gawker: Richard Mellon Scaife -- Hillary Clinton Cannot Stop Laughing Like A Maniac.
Talk about a tell.
April 22, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought she sounded hot.
April 22, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's hot when someone laughs strongly in non-humorous situations.
April 22, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, the laugh itself. You don't find it humorous that Richy Scaife asked her in for a chat? Sort of like seeing Nancy Pelosi and Newt sit on a couch together talking about the enviroment. If that isn't funny not sure what is.
April 22, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary always cackles like that when she doesn't want to answer a question. It's on of her "tells".
April 22, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
But don't you wonder if she laughs like that...you know...when? :)
April 22, 2008 5:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Louis, we need to find you a decent avatar.
April 22, 2008 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Browns helmet? Louisville Cardinals?
April 22, 2008 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
What and ruin my snarkish, trollish, and sophmoric imaage? I think not. I've been at it a couple months now and I don't want to throw all work away on a gratuitous avatar. I am supposed to be a role model
April 22, 2008 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
What and ruin my snarkish, trollish, and sophmoric imaage? I think not. I've been at it a couple months now and I don't want to throw all work away on a gratuitous avatar. I am supposed to be a role model
April 22, 2008 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
"You don't find it humorous that Richy Scaife asked her in for a chat?"
Maybe darkly humorous, like "Dr. Strangelove" or the funnier moments of "A Clockwork Orange."
Too bad Kubric's dead.
April 22, 2008 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
The middle finger thing was flawless. "Senior Black Correspondent" Larry Wilmore has a pormising future in comedy for sure.
April 22, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
"promising," rather.
April 22, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
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