See this thread.
They’re a very pro-Obama group, I agree. But generally I haven’t seen a reluctance to laugh at Obama, and after he gets elected, he’s bound to disappoint most of them in some way, and after that, they’ll be okay with making fun of him. And if they won’t watch any more, maybe some more conservatives will tune in and decide the show’s liberal bias has faded.
Stewart’s already started mocking Obama. One ominous sign: He had to turn to his audience and say “You know, it’s OK to laugh at him.”
There’s always Congress…
The reason we’re afraid to laugh at him now is because we’re terrified that he won’t win the election. For many of Stewart/Colbert’s core audience, that would be a disaster, and so any hint of trouble in Obama Country makes us nervous. Witness the uproar over the New Yorker cover, with the implication that funny or not, it might influence the country against Obama. Once Obama is elected, that fear will go away, and Stewart and Colbert will be free to mock him to their heart’s content. Of course if McCain is elected, they’ll also have plenty to joke about.
Let’s remember how it was toward the end of the Clinton administration.
Clinton gave so much fodder to Jay Leno and David Letterman, I know both were concerned with him leaving office. I can still remember Letterman telling “Clinton Classics” during the first year of the Bush administration. They’d put a little “Oscar” statue with Clinton’s head in the corner.
They, of course, had no idea how poorly Bush would perform. I can almost see Letterman doing “Bush classics” when Obama/McCain become President.
The gist is this:** Every administration is hilarious to make fun of. **
Update: Watch Monday’s Daily Show. Stewart has the shtick of mocking the “godlike paragon of hope” image down pretty well. Check it out on the site if you have the chance (it’s the very first section so you don’t have to watch long if you want to see only that).
I’m pretty sure there won’t be any shortage of comedic targets after the election and inauguration, as long was we maintain the two party system, as long as there’s Fox News, and as long as the rest of the mainstream media remains supine.