Fresh Politics, New Media

If you subscribe to emails from the  Colbert Super PAC  like I do or if you're just a frequent viewer of The Colbert Report  or even someone who spends time on social networking sites, you'll by now know that Stephen Colbert has turned over the leadership of his Super PAC (Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow) to Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show . Colbert is taking a step back from the Super PAC so that he can be considered as a candidate for president in the upcoming South Carolina primary on January 21st. Here's Stephen's take on his electability in South Carolina and his popularity as a Mitt-ternative. The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , Video Archive Since candidates are technically not allowed to coordinate with super PACs, it makes sense that Stephen Colbert can't remain as the director of Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. Trevor Potter, Colbert's lawyer explained the p...

All eyes are on New Hampshire this evening as the GOP primary there draws to a close. It seems that Rick Santorum has continued to ruffle feathers -- this time his comments aren't directly tied to the gay and lesbian community -- now he's making controversial comments about members of the African-American community and entitlement programs. Specifically, Santorum is reported to have commented on January 1 in Sioux City, Iowa: Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum singled out blacks as being recipients of assistance through federal benefit programs, telling a mostly-white audience he doesn't want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. Of course, like any skillful politician, Santorum is trying to deny that he really made the controversial remarks directed at African-Americans. In fact,  Santorum said that he wasn't really saying the word "black," -- just a simple twist of the tongue.  Here's S...

While Mitt Romney is technically the winner of the spoils of Iowa -- by a mere 8 votes -- it seems that Rick Santorum is the media's new darling. For late night political comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, Santorum's surge and his infamous "Google Problem" provided some rich material for the start of the new year. The Stewart clip below is laugh-out-loud funny and will make you think twice about digging into that leftover holiday box of chocolates. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook The Colbert clip offers a nice primer on Santorum's "Google Problem" for those in need of a refresher on the alternative definition of "santorum." The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , Video Archive

I'm anxiously awaiting the results of the 2012 GOP Iowa Caucus. Will Mitt Romney be able to secure more than 25% of the vote? Will Ron Paul eek out a Mike Huckabee style victory? Or will Santorum and his v-neck sweater vests  make the most of some recent momentum? While the New York Times  sweater vest story (link above) is a funny one, nothing beats these proposed Santorum newspaper headlines , a fun list that pays tribute to Santorum's Google problem . While Romney remains as the presumptive nominee even with a second or third place finish in Iowa, a second place finish (or even a good showing) for either Santorum or Paul will keep the respective #2 candidate in the media spotlight. If it's Santorum in the news, you can bet the headlines, the sweater vests, and the association with the Google problem will only continue on to New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The New York Times  has a great little piece about the web site,  Newtgingrich.com , currently offered for sale by  American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic opposition research group.  Available for $1 million or less on Craigslist, the web site links to damaging content about Newt Gingrich including negative news stories, the Tiffany web site , and this video on global warming from 2006 with Nancy Pelosi. Didn't Netflix/Qwikster teach us about t he importance of securing Twitter handles , domain names, etc. before launching a campaign? Perhaps it's cause for Newt's campaign to do a little shopping? Just in time for the holidays ...

Saturday night's GOP debate offered some entertaining exchanges. The first was between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich (or Newt Romney) regarding the differences between the two candidates. The best zinger of the evening: when Gingrich suggests that Romney would have been a career politician if he had actually beaten Senator Ted Kennedy during the 1994 campaign in Massachusetts. Of course the media seems to think the key take-away from the debate is Romney's $10,000 bet wager with a non-betting Rick Perry. Jon Stewart offered his take on the debate exchanges during Monday's broadcast of The Daily Show . The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook As a testament to Stewart's popularity, ABC News  repeated part of the clip on their Tuesday evening broadcast. video platform video management video solutions video player Whether the race is really just between Newt and Romney...

In today's New York Times , Michael Shear presents an interesting analysis of the recent gaffes made by GOP candidates including Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and Michele Bachmann. The question is whether these gaffes - particularly with respect to foreign policy - weaken assessments of the Republican Party. After all, foreign policy and national security are supposed to be among their bread and butter issues. Whether these gaffes will have an impact on the GOP in this election or the long term is debatable. At the very least they do offer good fodder for late night comedians. Here's Jon Stewart's take from last evening's broadcast on Herman Cain's interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel  regarding events in Libya. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook And here's a clip of the original interview put forward by the Journal Sentinel Is this simply the l...