With the elections just over two months away, many young, informed college voters will be turning their attention to the hard-hitting, and often late-breaking news offered by Comedy Central’s “Indecision 2008.”
Once every four years, the spectacle of he-said, she-said debauchery lights up the late-night scene like the Aurora Borealis over the arctic.
It starts with the primaries. The candidates appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to prove that they may be out of touch with our generation, but they’re still cool. If they are lucky enough, an appearance on The Colbert Report will earn them a fresh dose of “truthiness” and a patented “Colbert bump.”
If political analysts believe that this is one of the most important elections in American history, shouldn’t voters, especially young and impressionable ones, be focusing on the issues rather than the latest tabloid sheet scandal?
I used to turn to Stewart and Colbert to get truthinized (I’m putting a patent on that one, Colbert) but recently, CNN, MSNBC and other major news outlets have taken over my late night line-up when it comes to election coverage.
This doesn’t mean, however, that my democratic ideals don’t get tickled every time Stewart mocks the current administration or Colbert gives me the “Threat-down.”
College students, however, still rely on shows that contain “something approximating election news,” such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and Hannity and Colmes.
This should serve as a warning to young adults. Not voting for someone because one of his potential running mates may have had an affair which resulted in a child, and then possibly had one of his administrators cover it up for him, is not acceptable.
Also not acceptable: not voting for someone just because they aren’t the popular kid in class (You know who you are, John McCain).
So as the race tightens, along with the humor on both The Report and Daily Show, keep in mind that the most entertaining news is not always the most informational news, although it may be the most intelligent.