NEW YORK - The party accoutrements at Comedy Central's election night party gave the impression that this was an impartial affair. There were, after all, equal numbers of John McCain and Barack Obama cupcakes. Still, it was impossible to walk into the Manhattan bar called The Park without grasping pretty immediately where the host's loyalties really lay.
You want to talk about a network news division (or "news division") in the tank for Obama: Here was one completely, unabashedly, happily tanked.
Tuesday's night's Comedy Central production of Indecision 2008, co-hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, was a far cry from "The Daily Show's" live election night coverage four years ago, which ended in something of a dirge.
"I remember that you literally felt the air go out of the room - and we were afraid of that tonight," Comedy Central President Michele Ganeless told Politico.
Recalled "Daily Show" correspondent Jason Jones: "There was definitely some emotion lacking four years ago. I feel I can now drink and be happy."
He proceeded to do the former while evincing the latter.
The irresolution of the 2000 race cost "The Daily Show's" maiden election night production its piece de resistance: Ganeless said the network had prepared two concluding spots for either a George Bush or Al Gore victory that evening, but that neither ended up running on account of the recount.
Stewart wasn't able to make the call in 2004, either, although he and his Democratic-leaning audience knew enough for the theater to be suffused with sadness as the show came to a close.
"We have closure tonight," Ganeless continued. "We were all hoping we would be able to call it, because Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert deserved to call it."
Indeed, the '08 version ended with flying colors and smiles, from both a political and theatrical point of view of the staff.
At 11 p.m. Eastern time, Stewart said to the crowd, shelving the shtick for an emotional moment, "The president of the United States is Barack Obama." Whence, the studio audience erupted in cheers and shouts of "Yes we can."
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Of that moment, Larry Wilmore, who serves as "The Daily Show's" "senior black correspondent," said this: "When Jon finally said, 'President Barack Obama,' I was a little taken aback. It was like I wasn't a correspondent then. It was surreal."
Surrealism suffused the night.
"Daily Show" contributor John Hodgman said that backstage during the show, the writers and behind-the-scenes people splintered off to eyeball the myriad televisions around the set. But when California was about to be called - the call that would push Obama over the top - everyone gathered around the same TV in a basement room.
"These should be the most jaded people," said Hodgman, "but to see them get up and gather around a TV, like they were in someone's living room, took me by surprise. Because at the same time, I was just looking for a more comfortable chair."
Aside from going a few minutes past the scheduled signoff point to accommodate Steawart's calling the race, the charmed third election night production went according to plan for the first time ever. "We were f---ed if McCain won," said Jones.
"I was in front of a flowery backdrop, and if McCain won, everybody would have been like, 'We hate you, we f---ing hate you.'"
(Ganeless suggested there was, in fact, a bit more contingency planning but refused to divulge what material was kept in the can, should the show decide to use it at a later date.)
Thus, it seemed appropriate for a celebration afterward in Chelsea, attended by the full spectrum of twentysomething, Bush-bashing Manhattanites (some in plaid shirts, some in pea coats, some in graphic hoodies), noshing on bloody rare wedges of tenderloin and deliriously hoisting their Amstel Lights (later to be replaced by vodka tonics, then champagne and finally bottled water) into the air.
With Obama's victory, the country was about to change, and so to was the nature of the comedy.
For the past eight years, Stewart and Colbert have gorged themselves on the carcass of the Bush administration and the disintegrated Republican Party.
"The Bush administration, without their seeking it, became the 'Daily Show's' bete noir, and it is now being replaced with a historical moment," mused Hodgman. "The election means that the Bush administration is coming to an end and there is a sense of, 'I can't wait to do something new.'"
"The Daily Show" had, over the years, maintained an exceedingly warm relationship with John McCain, who still holds the distinction of being its most frequent guest. But as the election unfolded, Stewart turned on the Republican nominee and, in recent months, seemed to be setting up McCain to occupy Bush's role as target if he were to win the election.
With a protagonist in the White House, the comedian's mettle will be tested in a way it hasn't been before. Stewart came aboard during the end of Bill Clinton's presidency, replacing Craig Kilborn in 1999. But he and the show didn't really hit their stride until Bush took office the following year.
Jones suggested that comedic success might be mined not in the new administration, but from myriad other subjects.
"There's lots to make fun of other than the White House," he insisted.
But Ganeless avows that the comedy won't shirk in the face of a President Obama.
"At the end of the day," she said, "what Jon and Stephen are trying to do is find the funniest joke."
Said Hodgman: "As much as the show is fake news, its soul is very sincere, borne of a desire that everyone shares, that we don't want to be lied to. If there is a whiff of insincerity [from Obama or his administration], they will be taken to task."
Daniel Libit is a staff writer for Politico.com. Politico.com has teamed up with The Miami Student to share content for the 2008 presidential campaign.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.