At the height of the 1968 presidential campaign, Richard Nixon appeared on the hit show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and, in a flash of pop culture history, declared: “Sock it to me!”
“Laugh-In” featured a running bit where guests and cast members were tricked into saying “Sock it to me” and were then drenched with water or assaulted in some undignified manner. To the chagrin of many viewers, no doubt, Nixon escaped this fate.
The country, sadly, did not.
“Then, realizing what we had done — because he did come out looking like a nice guy — we pursued [Nixon’s opponent, Hubert] Humphrey all over the country, trying to get him to say, ‘I’ll sock it to you, Dick!’ ” the producer of “Laugh-In” later told the New Yorker. “And Humphrey later said that not doing it may have cost him the election.”
It’s improbable that an inane variety show appearance could cost a presidential candidate the race — at least we hope not. Yet, some genius in Washington realized that if Nixon could be funny, hey, anyone could do it.
So now, we live in a world where politicians seek to be mocked and humiliated for the gratification of the electorate.
Now, I’m not complaining. Twenty years ago, David Letterman hosted a counterculture mash-up of arid humor to a relatively small audience at 1 in the morning. These days, if John McCain misses a show (as he did on Letterman’s “Late Night” recently), he is mercilessly accosted until he apologizes for the slight.
Can anyone imagine Dwight D. Eisenhower begging for a guest spot on “Howdy Doody”?
How else can a modern candidate be humanized? The average American will tell you it is nearly impossible to extract any sense of a person through the recrimination, characterization assassination and mendacity that we call a presidential campaign. Political humor, then, is a national release — nay, a national necessity.
Thankfully, the burden of the democratic process has been lessened with a renaissance in satire, including “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show.” (According to the Pew Research Center, Jon Stewart is one of the most trusted names in journalism.) In addition, we’ve got viral videos, political cartoons and perhaps the most satisfying, “Saturday Night Live.”
When Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin appeared on that show last week, she garnered higher rating then any show since figure skater Nancy Kerrigan appeared in 1994. Nancy Kerrigan. Can you imagine?
Watching comedic actor Alec Baldwin “mistake” Palin for Tina Fey, and question Lorne Michaels about how “we” could ever have someone like “her” on the show, was a joy in both in its humor and honesty. When Baldwin realizes his mistake, he says, “I see. Uh . . . forgive me, but I feel I must say this. You are way hotter in person.”
It’s a long way from watching candidate Bill Clinton innocently playing that insufferable saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show” in 1992. Then again, who can deny Bob Dole was more likeable as a parody of Bob Dole than as Bob Dole himself?
When Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain recently met at the Waldorf Astoria to raise money for deprived children, they took time off from the campaign to crack some jokes.
“There are signs of hope, even in the most unexpected places, even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats,” said McCain. “I can’t shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me. I’m delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary!”
When offering levity, McCain has been at his best this campaign. Such moments can inject politics with humility and humanity.
Recently, my editor challenged me to write a single positive column about this horrid campaign. Well, here it is: Be thankful that it isn’t always so dreadfully serious.
Not to mention, it’ll all be over soon enough.
Reach columnist David Harsanyi at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
