Darryl PaulsonLast of a four-part series on political humor
In the first article in this series, I mentioned that most political humor focuses on a dominant trait of a candidate. Dan Qualye and George W. Bush were accused of not being the sharpest knives in the drawer; Clinton jokes focused on womanizing; McCain jokes were about age and Christie jokes were about his weight.
Humorists were reluctant to tell as many jokes about Barack Obama. Some have argued it was because most humorists are liberal. I think it is more likely that they were cautious about making jokes about the first African American president.
Since his re-election, humorists have unloaded on the president and I think that is great. How can anyone serve as president without having to undergo a verbal assault by humorists?
During his first term, most of the Obama jokes were about his messianic qualities. For example, witnesses say that while he was addressing more than 75,000 people on the banks of an Oregon river, Obama fed the audience two fish and five loaves of bread.
The President visited Israel and made a stop in Bethlehem to visit his birthplace.
Obama’s popularity has plummeted during his second term, primarily due to the disastrous rollout of Obamacare. If Obama’s ratings drop any further, there is talk that they may fish out Osama Bin Laden and shoot him again.
Obama’s campaign theme during his first presidential race was “Yes we can.” This was actually not the first time that theme was used. Bill Clinton used that line on interns.
We all know you can get AIDS from sex, but Clinton was the first to prove that you could get sex from aides. Clinton actually wanted to kill Bin Laden, but everyone knows how bad his aim was.
Clinton recently told Obama he had to honor his commitments on Obamacare. You know how bad things have become for the president when Clinton is lecturing him on commitment.
Obama’s first Republican opponent was John McCain. When McCain crisscrossed the United States during his campaign, it was called “The Antiques Roadshow.” Obama’s Secret Service code name was “renegade.” McCain’s was “enlarged prostrate.”
McCain tried to downplay the age issue by telling one audience he felt like a 25 year old. President Clinton, who was in attendance, said, “So do I. Let’s go get a couple.”
McCain was a highly decorated veteran who spent five years in a Vietnam prison before entering politics. For most politicians, it is usually the other way around.
McCain was criticized for picking Sarah Palin as his running mate. Many others thought she was an ideal pick. She was pro-life and McCain was clinging to life.
Obama’s pick of Joe Biden also raised some concerns. Biden has suffered from a long-term medical condition. He has always had foot-in-mouth disease. During the 2008 campaign, Biden actually said he would rather be home making love to his wife. Bill Clinton said the same thing. He would rather be home making love to Joe Biden’s wife.
George W. Bush also had a speech problem. In one talk, Bush actually said, “I understand small business growth. I was one.” Another time Bush noted: “Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning.”
After Bush’s narrow victory in Florida in 2000, he underwent a complete medical exam. During the colonoscopy, they found 300 votes for Al Gore.
Bush was delighted to pass his medical exam with flying colors. It’s not often that he passes an exam.
Bush received his best marks in handling terrorism. He does not know the meaning of appeasement. He does not know the meaning of cowardice. Yet, somehow, he did quite well despite his limited vocabulary.
At his daily briefing, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told Bush that three Brazilian soldiers had been killed. Bush responded, “Oh, that’s terrible. By the way, how much is a Brazillion?
