“Obamamania” has become absurd. “Daily Show” viewers heard a heavenly noise–“a choir of angels,” host Jon Stewart said. “It can only mean one thing: Barack Obama did something.” Jay Leno’s line: “The big story, of course: ‘American Idol.’ But enough about Barack Obama.”
“People tell pollsters they’ll vote for a black candidate, but once they’re in that booth … " says stand-up Greg Giraldo (an alum of Columbia and Harvard Law, just like Obama). Jokes about racial anxieties can be powerful–or professional death. Might work only from a black performer.
“Give him time,” says “Real Time With Bill Maher” exec producer Scott Carter. Colin Powell, Wesley Clark–others have seemed too perfect for comedy before, but everyone tarnishes. “He has this halo, a messiahlike aura that just can’t last as we get to know what he thinks about this issue and that issue.” He’ll crack before ‘08.
It’s hopeless. “Since Obama lacks faults, weaknesses or imperfections of any kind, I guess they’ll just have to soberly discuss his evenhanded policy positions,” suggests Peter Koechley, managing editor of The Onion. He’s making a joke.
