Romney was the target of 148 jokes on latenight talk show monologues, the study finds. Study: Mitt late-night laughingstock

Ever wonder why Mitt Romney doesn’t hit the late-night talk show circuit as heavily as President Barack Obama?

A new study from the Center for Media and Public Affairs might have the answer: The water simply isn’t as warm for the former Massachusetts governor.


The study found that Republicans bore the brunt of more than twice as many late-night jokes as Democrats since the party’s nominating conventions this past summer.

“Romney is leading in the humor race, but being the biggest joke is a race nobody wants to win,” said CMPA President Robert Lichter.

David Letterman was the greatest GOP jokester, according to the study, which says that Letterman told jokes about Romney at a 5:1 margin compared to those about the president. He wasn’t alone, however. All four comedians (Letterman, Jay Leno, Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Fallon) skewed Romney more.

“Mitt Romney was the target of 148 jokes on latenight talk show monologues, over twice as many as President Obama,” the study declares. “Obama finished second with 62 jokes.”

The Center found similar results in 2008, when Obama “finished fourth with 243 jokes, behind GOP candidates John McCain (658), Sarah Palin (566), and outgoing president George W. Bush (244).”

For this cycle, other ribbed comedians in the top ten of political targets included Arnold Schwarzenegger (3rd), Bill Clinton (4th), Paul Ryan (5th), Clint Eastwood (7th), Joe Biden (8th) and Chris Christie (10th).