This is the kind of thing that makes me glad to have been born when I was born. What a fortunate life I have lived, to be able to see such things as this.
-FrL-
(But: Why does Huckabee do the Colbert report? I don’t get the impression that his constituency has a lot of big fans of the show. Maybe I’m wrong.)
Colbert has gotten a lot of mileage out of Huckabee, and it’s a tribute to the latter that he’s been such a good sport in his recurring appearances. Colbert’s quite religious IRL, so even though his politics may not mesh much with MH, he certainly does show the candidate a lot of respect, especially since he’s not an empty, pandering suit the way Romney was, for example.
Though I’m surprised Huckabee hasn’t played his bass on the show, yet.
I’ll check this out on TiVo when I go home.
Huckabee has a good sense of humor and comes off well in TV interviews because he can banter instead of just repeating soundbites. And the the press writers about the TV appearances the next day, so it’s a double bonus.
I’m not sure where his connection with Colbert originated, but he’s done the show a bunch of times, promised Stephen the VP slot on the ticket, and so on. It fits with Colbert’s religious conservative persona, I guess.
Actually, some old friends of mine - who were the most conservative people I have ever met, young or old - loved the show. Which was a mind fuck trying to figure out what part they thought was real or a put on. But all of them were huge fans of Bill and atleast one of them went on to Westpoint, “to kill as many Muslims as possible.”
So, young conservatives do watch it. What they get out of it is up for grabs.
I remember when the show was new and DeLay and a bunch of arch-Conservatives were claiming Colbert as a new pundit, only to realize he’s kidding (mostly).
I think Huckabee’s campaign has become a joke. He is likable, and I’d vote for him on Last Comic Standing, but how does he have enough time to do this and the ad at the end of Conan after the three way battle? I suppose that when you have no money, and are not likely to get more, you grab for every media opportunity you can get.
Some degree of humor is fine. Nixon did well saying “Sock it to me?” on Laugh-In. Air hockey seems a bit much to me.
Honestly, I think Colbert invited Huckabee to his show the first time for the same reason he invited Gravel (and Biden, and a few other of the lower tier candidates). Because they were jokes and nobody was taking their candidacy seriously. The difference is, Huckabee’s campaign really started to take off after his first appearances. Of course, Colbert (the persona) is so self-centered and self-aggrandizing that he has to take credit for Huckabee’s campaign (though it’s very likely that the “Colbert bump” had nothing to do with it), and thus a running gag was born.
It’s particularly funny, to me, given Jon Stewart’s obvious friendship with Senator McCain. Huckabee is Colbert’s Conservative Friend (and running mate).
The reason Huckabee is doing Dr. Colbert’s show is because he’s been on a number of times. Huckabee is promising Dr. Colbert the VP spot if he’s elected (Hucolberry). And…well, I would say that Dr. Colbert made Huckabee, but Colbert recently got into a fight over that statement.
Besides the air-hockey debate, I also enjoyed Dr. Colbert’s tribute to Black History Month and the Chinese New Year with a tribute to that fine Black Chinese, Worf. (Don’t ask).
Bill who?
Bill “Papa Bear” O’Reilly, probably.
(Was that supposed to be a joke? Sorry if I’m being dense.
-FrL-)
He does it to get votes, of course.
He’s a likable guy, even if his positions suck (IMO). People tune in, say, “Hey, that’s a likable guy,” and he picks up some votes. I first saw him (and heard about him) on TDS, and thought he came across very well. Then I did some reading about him, and thought boy, can this guy do a snow job or what?
Colbert and Stewart are both nice the person across the desk from them. They rarely play ‘gotcha’ with them. So going on either of those shows are actually politically safe and at least they (Huck and McCain) are not just preaching to the choir.
The air hockey table was a stab at all the tech stuff the networks had pulled out for super Tuesday. Not having a budget like them Stephen pulled out an air hockey table and a map of the US. I thought it was great, and Huckabee was actually able to play and talk at the same time.
Huckabee’s original appearance (and I honestly can’t remember whether it was on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report) was during his book tour. Prior to his presidential run, he was best known for two things – living in a trailer while the Arkansas governor’s mansion was undergoing renovation, and losing a large amount of weight. He wrote a book about his weight loss experience, and came on one of the Comedy Central shows to promote it. He turned out to be an enjoyable guest, and presumably he had a good time, so when he started campaigning for president, those shows were a natural venue for him. I get the feeling he personally likes Stephen, and enjoys bantering with him.
That’s because the Pubbies have learned their lesson. Remember the moron Congressman from Texas who came on TDS during the Republican Convention? He started by giving Stewart some cowboy boots, I think, and then went on with the crap about some magazine saying Kerry was the most liberal guy in the Senate. Stewart was ready, and tore the guy into little shreds and spit out the pieces. (It was wonderful.) Since then no one has tried to pull any crap like that on him.
Huck goes for the after-show parties, because cocaine is a fun thing to do.
It was better than that: the show was taped shortly after the birth of Jon’s son, and the moron gave him a pair of baby-sized cowboy boots emblazoned with GOP electioneering slogans. Just incredibly tacky. Jon was clearly ready to call the guy on his memorized talking points bullshit before the “gift,” but I think the crassness of it pushed him into taking the gloves off and just wrecking the guy.
(LOL… the google ads are for air hockey tables and… Wolfgang Puck)
The rabid partisan liberal in me is bugged by how likeable and charming and genuine Huckabee seems to be… all conservatives should be more like Cheney or Santorum.
Anyone have a link to the clip? I love watching Jon lay the smack down.
It’s no joke- Huckabee has been on the show multiple times.
