Sources are aplenty for political humor

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By staff and wire reports

How old is John McCain?

So old he remembers when Johnny Carson quipped, “Did you know Richard Nixon is the only president whose formal portrait was painted by a police sketch artist?”

Back in the 1970s, “The Tonight Show” was America’s top source for political humor. Today, comedians can mock McCain’s age — or Sarah Palin’s accent, or John Edwards’ dalliances, or Barack Obama’s “rock star” status, or our politicians’ inherent inability to pick a position and stick to it — on any number of network and cable stations, blogs and Web sites.

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The political team for "The Daily Show." (Courtesy of Comedy Central)

Perhaps the biggest viral smash so far was when online comedy site Funny or Die spoofed a McCain ad with a bikini-clad Paris Hilton proclaiming she’s “not from the olden days and I’m not promising change like that other guy ... I’m just hot.” The video has drawn more than 7 million views and spawned spoofs of its own.

But before Hilton, there was Obama Girl, the super-hot chick who sang the hit, “I Got a Crush on Obama.” That video instantly turned producer BarelyPolitical.com into a cultural phenomenon.

Founder Ben Relles said the birth of YouTube has unleashed America’s funniness.

“In 2004, there was no YouTube,” Relles said. “People weren’t creating and posting videos online. There was (Web site) JibJab, but that was done by a production crew. What you’re seeing now are individuals participating in the process and that’s really exciting.”

Like the news, funny now happens around the clock. No need to wait for late-show monologues or the morning comics. Hours — sometimes minutes — after news breaks, comedians are on the job tearing down our nation’s leaders.

It’s a great time to be young and cynical and not just because of the Internet, said Second City actor Seth Weitberg, 27.

“What makes this such a fun election is that there is so much awareness. It’s like when you’re at the water cooler and everybody watched the same television show the night before. People are just really ready to be engaged,” Weitberg said. “Then, of course, there’s just so much to rip on.”

New stars of political humorHere are a few of the fresh comic voices who have made this election so laughable.

‘The Daily Show’www.thedailyshow.com andwww.indecision2008.com

The Comedy Central “news” show has returned with live episodes after a week off to recover from covering the Democratic and Republican national conventions. A clip called the “Sarah Palin Gender Card,” about host Jon Stewart’s take on the vice presidential candidate and sexism, has been watched online more than 3.5 million times. Oh, and his friend Stephen Colbert’s show features pretty good political humor, too.

Barelypolitical.comMixing sharp analysis and hot chicks, BarelyPolitical made a big splash in 2007 with its debut video “Crush on Obama” starring “Obama Girl” Amber Lee Ettinger. Since then, the site has produced more than 100 videos, including “Al Gore’s Voicemail” where presidential hopefuls try to curry favor with the former VP (McCain: “I want to bomb Iran using ... solar powered nuclear weapons”) and “Hillary Wasn’t Lying!” featuring faux footage of heads exploding while a calm Clinton greets children in “snipery” Bosnia.

236.comThe comic arm of the Huffington Post (already considered a joke by some), 23/6 features videos, columns by liberal comedians, animated comics and running features such as “If they IM’d,” imaginary instant-message exchanges between politicians. In the “Swift Kids for Truth,” toddlers mispronounce Barack Obama’s name (“Black-o-Rama? Bama-lama?”), and “A Message to Voters Older than McCain” lays out McCain’s plan for seniors: “Apple butter will no longer be a second-class condiment. Dinner shouldn’t be so spicy. Sen. McCain promises never to negotiate with Prussia. And yes, if elected, Sen. McCain will vote yes on cats being soft.”

The Margins of Error blogwww.hmatkin.blogspot.com

Average Americans are getting into the act, posting their own columns, cartoons and videos. Our favorite isn’t a registered voter, but Australian Hugh Matkin, 24. His video “Barack Roll,” splices the phrases and words from various Obama speeches to re-create the Rick Astley hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Even better: He then Rickrolls John McCain by splicing that work into video from the Republican National Convention. He gives Hillary similar treatment in another viral parody. We can’t tell you the name, but Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon would be proud.

Keith Knight, aka Keefwww.kchronicles.com

Keith Knight calls himself the “other black cartoonist” and like “Boondocks” creator Aaron McGruder, Knight isn’t afraid to use a little profanity to make a political point, often at the expense of President George W. Bush’s administration. “Bush’s Other Twins” shows two babies fused at the head. “But sir, it would be healthier for the two if they were separated,” the surgeon tells Bush. “No. You leave church and state alone,” Bush responds.