No "Daily Show", no Democrat Senate?

Question

If there was no such thing as "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"
would the Democrats have taken the Senate in 2006?

I'm not questioning that there were other
issues - but the vote was soooo close that
a few thousand votes in either Virginia or
Montana would have made the difference.

Also, would there really be a "Colbert
Report" without "The Daily Show"?

Answer 1

It's possible his show influenced a small percentage of swing votes and helped dems win some close races.

Answer 2

Yes. I do not watch the Daily Show or even have cable TV and I knew things would change in this next election. The Daily Show was around in 1999, wasn't it? Does that mean that "Daily Show" = 2000 Republican presidency and congress? No. There is little connection between the two.

Instead, try this:

1. Crap economy where the majority of Americans' wages increase below the rate of inflation = screw the bastards that have wet dreams about trickle down economics.

2. Also, try all the high-profile scandals from the Republicans since they let power go to their heads. In particular, having a congressman stalking boys doesn't help if your base is conservative and Christian.

3. Try getting re-elected when your war keeps dragging on and the only people that want to fight it (and incidentally get killed in it) are the conservatives that voted for you. In other words, the longer the war drags out, the fewer Republicans left alive to vote. Don't forget about pissed off families of dead kids either!

In other words, if the "Daily Show" never existed, we would get the same results. The only thing that would be missing would be the funny election spoof of having to select "the lesser of two evils" by having the campaign to elect Jon Stewart for president. It's times like that when you realize that most of the choices offered are total garbage.

Answer 3

I think that is overestimating Jon Stewart's influence. By and large, his viewers are young people, who tend to be more liberal and more distrustful of authority than older voters. So, his show is mostly preaching to the choir - that is, telling his viewers what they want to hear. Consider that The Daily Show was not much different in the last few elections ('04, '02, '00) and the GOP won all of those.

Answer 4

it wouldn't have made any difference.

You give Jon Stewart too much credit.

I would further submit that the Republicans did indeed try to steal another election, but the wave of voters for change was so overwhelming, that the attempt at stealing the election was not successful. Had there been no attempts at stealing the election by Republicans, the election would not have been so close, and the Democrats would have taken more seats.

Answer 5

I think that Jay Leno had a lot to do with electing Arnold in California. In the nation as a whole, comedians like Rush Limbaugh counter balance comedians like Stewart and Colbert.

Answer 6

Yes, because there aren't a lot of people in Montana who watch it, and those who do would be likely to vote out Conrad Burns to begin with. They didn't need Jon Stewart to tell them what to do.

Answer 7

the daily show and other comedian shows that make fun of politics do not affect voting. people who watch those shows do not see it as real news, they know its not real news.

besides now there is a democratic majority its the democrats turn to be the butt of most of the jokes

Answer 8

There's no correlation here. The vast majority of the electorate don't watch The Daily Show. Those who do watch it, rarely vote.

Answer 9

Would they even be in power in the 1st place if not for right-wing radio?

Answer 10

Yes because we still have Stephen Colbert.