Bostonians get their 'Daily' dose of politics, laughter

BOSTON -- Jon Stewart wants everyone to sit down. \nThe 42-year-old walks onto the stage at the Tsai Performance Center on the campus of Boston University for the third night of "The Daily Show's" coverage of the Democratic National Convention, and the crowd is giving him a standing ovation.\nStewart, though, demurs to their applause.\n"That's awfully lovely," he said, speaking to the crowd for a few moments before the show begins its taping, "but the show tonight really does blow."\nEveryone laughs, as if instinctively they know he can't possibly be serious. And for a few moments it doesn't seem like he's capable of being serious.\nHe tells the audience about a run-in he had with a Ben Franklin impersonator near Boston's famous Faneuil Hall. When he wonders why the impersonator is in Boston and not Philadelphia, "the guy responds -- without even breaking character -- 'I invented the bifocal,'" Stewart laughed incredulously. \nOne audience member wants to know who his favorite guest has been.\n"That's a great question, but I have to tell you, I'm often not paying attention while they're talking," he spurred.\nOne audience members asks how he chose his stage name.\n"As you all know, my last name is really Hitler," Stewart riffed. \nOne audience member wonders if he fears a Bush re-election means the show runs out of material.\nStewart rubs the corners of his mouth and fires back, "Wait, you're saying I love my show more than I love my country?"\nWell, if Stewart doesn't, there are plenty of people who do. The edgy, weeknight Comedy Central half-hour satire lampoons the way the news is covered as strongly as it lampoons the actual news. The show landed two Emmys last year -- one for Outstanding Variety Series and another for Outstanding Writing -- and won the prestigious Peabody Award for its appropriately named "Indecision 2000" coverage. \nSo now we have "The Daily Show's" Indecision 2004 coverage, with a bit more clout this election cycle. The Democratic National Committee invited the show to cover stories on the convention floor along with the members of the "real" media, and the show will be covering the Republicans' New York convention at the end of the month.\n"It's a fake news event, so in a way it's kind of apropos that we'd be there," Stewart told The New York Times.\nThe show's popularity and ratings have been slowly growing, largely among the younger, independent demographics that are notably absent at the voting booths. No wonder hundreds lined up far down the block outside the theater just to see if they might get a ticket to the show.\nJenny Wrynn, a resident of Somerville, Mass., said she thinks "The Daily Show" is the only "real" news out there.\n"Politics is the best when you look at it from a humorous standpoint," Wrynn said, adding she personally believes American politics is somewhere akin to doing something obscene with a cat.\n"I've been watching all week," said Ashley Randall, a resident of Brookline, Mass., who had been waiting in line for over an hour for the show under a particularly warm sun. "And I like the fact they've been objectively mocking the Democrats and the Republicans."\nRandall and Wrynn agreed that the merciless mockery of both sides of the aisle and of the whole building itself has kept the show in high demand, and allows Stewart, who often self-deprecatingly claims he has no gravitas on cable television, to channel the voice of his and younger generations and those fed-up with the political process.\nBut it's certainly not as if Stewart is without core convictions. Watching "The Daily Show" closely, you can sense what Stewart finds important and what disgusts him. (He hounded MSNBC for cutting off Rev. Al Sharpton's speech Tuesday, but gladly allowed Brian Williams to interview him). \nStewart, who kept a low profile last week, continually referred to the convention as a "product launch" for Sen. John Kerry whenever he did appear for an interview or two. \nSome worry the closer to the insid e "The Daily Show" gets, the less edgy the show will become, something that would flatly ruin the root of his joke. But when Stewart appeared on ABC's "Nightline" with Ted Koppel and feuded with the host over the coverage and perception of the convention, a frustrated Koppel abruptly cut Stewart off and said, "You're finished."\nKoppel, who was to be Stewart's guest on the third night of Indecision 2004 Boston coverage, did not show up, with no comment from either side, but the show went on without a hitch and with an audience none the wiser.\nAnd at least for one more night, whether you knew it or not, "The Daily Show" kept its well-known independence.\n-- Contact Opinion Editor Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.