On the Thursday night edition of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Dennis Kucinich was featured in a segment. Was it a way to show his light hearted side since his Congressional future is un-certain at this point or was it just Dennis being Dennis? It appears that the TEA party communities of Ohio’s 10th Congressional district are not laughing. According to the internet buzz surrounding the story many TEA partiers consider the performance a disgrace. They have even said that not only has he embarrassed himself, but also has created another vision of Cleveland being the joke of the nation. How can anyone take Northeast Ohio seriously when their elected officials do television interviews with a ventriloquist dummy?
Everyone knows that The Daily Show on Comedy Central is a tongue in cheek news opinion show and not to be taken totally seriously. So the question is does an elected official lose credibility by participating in an obvious publicity stunt on the show to show a lighter side? Dennis Kucinich was interviewed by The Daily Show’s own John Oliver and features the democratic congressman taking personal insults when compared to a photo of his wife. “It’s like a Golden Retriever tried to mate with a Chihuahua…” said the interview implying the question what does she see in you? We also see Kucinich being accused of being a robot getting glass bottles broken over his head.
Towards the end of the segment they address the issue of the re-districting of Ohio and ask Dennis if he plans to retire. The segment then changes to a LeBron James “Decision” spoof saying Dennis will take his talents to Euclid Beach. The Daily Show even spliced in actual news footage of fans re-action to the James announcement, but this time they were yelling at Dennis.
However the grand moment was when the Ohio congressman was upstaged by his ventriloquist dummy. Oliver asks “How do you keep getting elected?” The dummy answers the question with “You have to ask Dennis.”
In one of the most fragile times in American history with a crushing debt engulfing America this Daily Show segment leaves all of Ohio’s District 10 asking Dennis if he takes his job seriously. Both Dennis supporters and those that oppose him can agree on e one thing…it was good for a few laughs. With the future of Dennis Kucinich in limbo it will be interesting to see how something like this really affects him in the next campaign.
“I’m ashamed to say he is my congressman. Look at what he did when he was mayor of Cleveland. Then there is the UFO sightings, and now he’s making us all a laughing stock!” stated a resident of District 10 who wanted to remain anonymous. “I hope we see a good solid candidate running against him next election. It’s about time we get real representation in Washington not this guy.”
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