Daily Show on press idolatry: Call him 'Barack Oboner'

David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster

Published: Tuesday July 22, 2008





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US News & World Report calls it a 'whirlwind of positive coverage'. Rasmussen ponders whether 'reporters are trying to help Obama win'. Even the New York Times is asking 'Has the press voted for Obama?'

The news media have devoted significantly more attention to the Democrat since Hillary Rodham Clinton suspended her campaign, according to research conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

And despite the intensive media saturation Obama's campaign is enjoying, NBC foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell calls out "what some would call fake interviews" due to the campaign's strangely heavy restriction on press access.

"You're seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military and what some would call fake interviews because they're not interviews from a journalist," said Mitchell during an interview on Hardball. "Politically, it's smart as can be, but we have not seen a presidential candidate do this, in my recollection, ever before."

Conversely, when McCain traveled to New Hampshire on Monday, his arrival was hardly noticed.

"In Manchester last night, there was just one reporter and one photographer waiting for McCain as his plane -- a white, blue and gold Boeing 737-400 emblazoned with his campaign slogan, 'Reform, Prosperity, Peace' -- touched down on the Wiggins Airways tarmac," wrote The Union Leader.

On Monday night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart cut right to the chase, mocking the extensive coverage of Barack Obama's trip to Iraq. Daily Show reporters Rob Riggle, Larry Wilmore, John Oliver, Wyatt Cenac and Ed Henry all joke that they have 'a boner' for Obama and follow the campaign to the Middle East, leaving just a tape recorder tethered to a crude stand to cover McCain.

Referencing press coverage of Obama playing basketball with the troops, Wyatt Cenac asked, "Did you see when the President hit that three-pointer?"

"Nothing but the net, right?" John Oliver chimed in.

"He's not ... He's not the President," rebutted Stewart. "Barack Obama is not the President."

"Uh, are you sure?" questioned Cenac.

Within moments, the whole cast of reporters were declaring a phallic affection of the presumptive Democratic nominee, at Rob Riggle's declaration that, "Barack Obama ... Kinda gives me a boner."

Toward the end of the clip, The Office's Ed Helms makes a surprise reappearance, stating to cheers from fellow reporters, "Seriously, they should call this guy 'Barack Oboner.'"

This video is from Comedy Central's The Daily Show, broadcast July 21, 2008.



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(with wire reports)