Daily Show Verdict
Tonight is the big night. Will Jon Stewart go softball on Santorum? Will Jon Stewart stick it to him? Will Santorum tell us what it's like to whore for Outback Steakhouse?
The answers: No. No. No.
Stewart doesn't softball him, and he doesn't stick it to him. He debates him. He disagrees with Santorum without screaming at him. He's doing the very thing he asked Tucker Carlson to do. Engage the opposition, illuminate the differences, and disagree. I think he's still learning how to do it, and going up against a US Senator is a fair bit harder than going against Bernard Goldberg.
That being said, I fear that Santorum got exactly what he wanted out of it. A whole bunch of people, who may only get their political coverage through the Daily Show saw Santorum come off as a reasonable guy. And of course Stewart didn't ask him about being an psuedo-Aussie whore.
So I think we took one step forward two steps back. However as Stewart practices, this show might be a rep that accumulates with others to pay off dividends in the future.
Posted by: Mike Panetta at July 28, 2005 10:37 AM