Late Night Comedy Matters

Democrats have a not-so-secret resource for the 2024 campaign - the satirical monologues on late-night talk shows.

The humor, the insight, and the video are there for the taking - if they take advantage of it.

Ever since the 60s, late-night comics have teased the political leadership and reflected the views of the country. Comedians today are much more political and much more pointed. Every night Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy Kimmel rip Republicans apart in ways in which Democrats have proven incapable,

They provide news and laughs and expose Republican hypocrisy and lies. They do ai while ampoking fun and providing perspective on Democratic foibles.  And their research teams do a much better job of finding video and using it in clever ways than Democratic operatives.

Moreover this material is easily accessible on line for Democratic use.

Late night shows exposed the seamy show-business fraud of Trumpism even as mainstream reporters were gushing about Trump’s descent down the gold escalator in Trump Tower.  While CNN promotes the Disneyland meets Berlin convention in Milwaukee and Jake Tapper blandly sccepts Trump’s lies , the comics are skewering his hate-filled rants.

They understand and dismantle political artifice, slogans, and bullshit better than political operatives and professional journalists.  While they can be sophomoric, at their best they skewer the powerful with insight, wit - and most importantly, video.

Democrats have been fools for not taking advantage of the great American comedy industry over the past.

They overlook this American art form at their own peril.