Late night comedians smack around Mitt Romney more than twice as often as they do Obama on national television found a study published by the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University.
Comedians targeted Romney 148 times in late night monologues between the Republican National Convention in late August and Oct. 3, the study reported, but mocked Obama only 62 times.
When David Letterman isn’t joking about statutory rape, he’s outdoing all of his colleagues when it comes to treating the Republican presidential contender like he’s the incumbent President.
“The Late Show with David Letterman” surpassed the other four shows, with a gaping five to one margin and a total of 44 jokes about Romney to a mere 9 about Obama.
Incredibly, gaffe prone Vice President Joe Biden managed to fly under the comedians’ radars, with only 16 jokes made at his expense.
“For Barack Obama, being bypassed by TV’s humorists is nothing new,” the study said. “In the 2008 general election, CMPA found that he finished fourth with 243 jokes, behind GOP candidates John McCain (658), Sarah Palin (566), and outgoing president George W. Bush (244).”
The study doesn’t make much commentary on the numbers, but said comedians have avoided mocking Obama, perhaps for fear of being labeled as racist or being unwilling to attack one of their own, the “cool” president.
Newsbusters has also made a note of comedians’ hesitance to attack Obama, quoting Saturday Night Live writer Jim Downey: “Obama doesn’t give you much to grab onto. He’s like a smooth rock face of perfect obsidian with no ledges or toeholds, and your job is to scale 200 feet of it.”
Yes, according to the media, Obama is just too smooth to get a handle on.
