Fresh Politics, New Media

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...

For those who weren't in front of the TV last Saturday night -- or haven't managed to catch up on Hulu -- here's SNL 's version of the Perry "Oops" debate moment. Not a bad opening segment for a show that will increasingly insert itself into the political fray as the election gets closer.

Rick Perry appeared on David Letterman last night, reading the evening's Top Ten list. Last night's list - "Top Ten Rick Perry Excuses." The impromptu appearance was made in an attempt to minimize the damage from Perry's "Oops" moment during the GOP candidates debate. My recent  academic research on the differential impact of comedy forms suggests that viewers cool towards politicians when folks like Letterman, Colbert, and Stewart make fun of them using other-directed hostile humor. At the same time, voters can warm toward politicians like Perry, McCain, and others if they are willing to be in on the joke and engage in some healthy self-directed humor or self-ridicule. Of course, this also means that the self-directed humor has to be funny with the politician doing a good job in the impromptu role of comic. After watching Perry's appearance on Letterman from last night, I'm not so sure that this attempt at self-ridicule worked. After all, P...

It seems that the media has already decided the race for the 2012 GOP Nomination has evolved into a head-to-head contest between former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Texas Governor Rick Perry. Yep, it's a battle to the finish for Romney and Pery despite Herman Cain's recent surge in popularity among voters in Florida and the reality that primary voters won't even start to head to the polls until January 2012. According to a recent article in the NY Times , the Perry vs. Romney showdown has been a long time in the making or has at least been a factor since the 2008 election. Both candidates did a good job of attacking each other in Tuesday's latest GOP Candidates debate -- the eighth of the season. To catch up on the debate highlights, check out this clip from the Wednesday 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

Jon Stewart started off the week with a review of last week's Google/Fox News Republican candidate debate. There's an irony not to miss here given that this clip is from a Google sponsored debate and Santorum is well known for his Google problem . So here's the clip for Rick #1 from the top of the show: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook  and here's Rick #2 (aka Rick Squared): The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook For viewers who often think Stewart is left-leaning, his address to Republican base over at Camera 3 offers a sample of partisan commentary. In fact, recent research with colleagues Patricia Moy and Michael Xenos published in the volume,  The Stewart/Colbert Effect: Essays on the Real Impacts of Fake News , explores the connection between partisan identity (e....

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to this new ad for Rick Perry. The ad is certainly dramatic and chock full of startling imagery and movie-preview style music. I personally was waiting for a green preview screen at the end. The ad is 1 minute and 45 seconds long -- a departure from the 30 and 60 second ads that are standard campaign fare. In addition, the ad starts off as an attack against Obama and ends with a rousing endorsement of Rick Perry -- a clear attempt to attach a positive ad to the initial negative message. The juxtaposition suggests that voters must make a choice between the failed policies of the Obama administration and the promises and hope offered by a Perry presidency. While the design and elements of the ad are interesting in and of itself, the important thing about this ad and others will be their viral reach. This ad is clearly meant for television viewers in early primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The true impact of the a...

In Thursday's New York Times , Nate Silver discusses two fundamental qualities voters look for when evaluating candidates in a presidential primary contest: (1) electability and (2) a candidate who will promote an agreeable (in this case conservative Republican) policy agenda. Often times, it's electability that matters most to primary voters (aka the party faithful) because they seek a candidate who can ultimately win in a general election. As Silver notes, Perry does well in promoting a conservative agenda but is lacking when it comes to perceptions of electability. Romney on the other hand may not appeal to the policy preferences of more conservative Republican voters but he does give off an air of electability when it comes time to think about the general election. The importance of electability was especially evident during the 2004 Democratic primary. In the early days of the primary I worked with a team of pollsters hired by a candidate who was promoting a very cred...

Rick Perry, the conservative governor of Texas and contender for the GOP Presidential nomination likes to tout his record as a job creator. In his stump speeches across the country (or just in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina), he likes to emphasize that Texas led the country in job growth since 2009.  In fact Perry claims that 40% of all the jobs created in the US since 2009 were in Texas. Astonishing statistic, but according to a n analysis by Factcheck.org , Perry's claim is actually accurate.  The problem with Perry touting this 40% statistic is that given population growth in Texas and other factors the unemployment rate in Texas has actually increased since June 2009 even if it is still below the national average. According to factcheck.org: " In fact, if we look at the June 2009 starting point that Perry refers to, unemployment got worse in Texas – going from 7.7 percent in June 2009 to 8.4 percent in July 2011. The national rate, meanwhile, improved – dro...

While the media tends to pay greater attention to what presidential candidates say during the early days of primary campaigns, photojournalism and the images of the primary campaign are also particularly important for voters. Two interesting (and scary) photos emerged this week. The first was featured in The New York Times ' coverage of Texas Governor Rick Perry's Christian-themed prayer rally held in Houston over the weekend.  For more, check out this post on  The Caucus . Here's the photo: So much for the separation of church and state ... The second photo is on the cover of Newsweek  and displays a "deer in the headlights" image of candidate Michele Bachmann. Some critics in the media have suggested that the photo is unflattering and that the use of the word "rage" is problematic especially because it appears only on the cover, not in the article. Take a look for yourself. Without question, both candidates represent conservative political...