With the primary horse race at full gallop, late-show joke writers should be overdosing on the day's news. Instead, they're picketing in Times Square, as the Writers Guild strike slogs on and candidates' pratfalls go unpunished. Some scribes don't want to know what they're missing. "I just can't bear to watch it," said Daily Show writer Tim Carvell. "It would be like driving by your old girlfriend's place." But others refuse to leave the nation's couch-bound voters behind.
Mike Huckabee took an early hit. "I think Huckabee should try and get an endorsement from Arnold Schwarzenegger," said Tom Ruprecht from the Late Show with David Letterman. "Hanging out with Schwarzenegger would allow Huckabee to finally realize that maybe we did evolve from the apes." Being bipartisan, Ruprecht also jabbed at Hillary Clinton, who, having questioned the aspirations that Barack Obama expressed in a kindergarten essay, subsequently claimed she was, well, kidding. "The Clintons' criticism, of course, was that they feel kindergarten is a little late to decide you want to be president."
And what of Mitt Romney's Kennedyesque speech in defense of his religion? "That's just ignorant," Late Night with Conan O'Brien head writer Mike Sweeney said of anyone wary of Mormonism. "Everyone knows Bill Clinton was the first polygamist in the White House."
Meanwhile, brothers Eric and Justin Stangel, Letterman's head writers, took aim at perhaps the easiest target. "I'd be interested to see how George W. Bush is doing," Justin said. "When he's walking to his helicopter and he snorts and spits—we'll show that tape a thousand times. Now he does it, and you know who's seeing it? Those nerds who watch CNN."
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