The Politics of Humor :: essays research papers fc

THE POLITICS OF COMEDYIs this thing on?In efforts to promote voter education, laughter is perhaps the best strategery.Comedy and tragedy turn off one in the same, as the saying goes. The variability of the twosome, however, substantiates rather inconsistently in politics, an arena overflowing with participants who take themselves too seriously. And where a potential prognosis attempts to utilize comic relief, one often discovers the result to be rather tragic.In lieu of the consequences politicians may endure with the mere utterance of a light joke, most tend to stray from the possibility of Meet the Press turned comedy hour. Especially when their reputations are at stake politicians are well aware, fit to Mark Katz, humorist and speechwriter for Bill Clinton, that a good joke leave alone last about a week, whereas a bad joke will be reprinted in you obituary. Perhaps responsibility lies within the confines of a narrow-minded media, exhibited as a threat to be avoided rather th an a weapon to be implemented. But certainly with just ca lend oneself the news media are poorly suited to their role as the principal intermediary between candidates and voters, root in the conception of politics as game and a business rather than a struggle over national policy. The aforementioned incidents occur frequently, to a greater extentover not absolutely, should candidates appropriately utilize humor. The war on terror provides unavoidable roadblocks on an already-tumultuous campaign trail, and even primitive technology such as tv suffices in establishing the general 9/11 fear climate. The presumption of a candidates entrepreneurial priorities over his public relationship undermines the use of humor as the candidates ultimate weapon. The primarily noticeable aspect of political campaign humor pertains to its absence. Undoubtedly humor is used more sparingly than songs in political commercials the commodity appears even more so in the early campaign efforts of the mid- nineteenth century than recent endeavors. Humors speciality originates from its multilevel success in the campaigning process. Involuntarily proliferated by an ever-expanding press, the ideal candidate would employ comedy because of its effervescent facility of concurrent humanization and advertisement. merely humorous politicians formulate an equally comical and less aggressive response within the entertainment realm, successfully intertwining the sphere of pop culture with the relatively solid territory of political science. The general consensus regarding the benefits of humor relates to its malleability it can be employed to attack the opposition, or it can serve to enhance a campaign. season it can be argued that humor refers to a conscious campaign maneuver on the part of its source, as a tool it only succeeds with regard to the various(prenominal) candidate.