Daily Show

I'm hugely disappointed with Jon Stewart for his interview with John McCain last night. Time and again, he seemed about to ask a tough question, only to crack a joke and let McCain slide.

On the Ledbetter Fair Pay issue, he let McCain seem like a gracious candidate with high integrity for allowing a young women in a townhall to criticize him, yet when presented with the opportunity, Stewart didn't drill down and address the woman's real concern, which is that McCain doesn't support fair pay for women.

Stewart brought up Reverend Wright, but instead of asking about Hagee, he allowed McCain to crack some jokes at Bush's expense and seem like an independent maverick.

Stewart brought up Hamas's "endorsement" of Barack Obama and allowed McCain to infer that it was politically significant (and probably meaningful for our security).

Maybe I'm a fool to expect the Daily Show to tear down McCain's maverick image with their satirical spots and tough questions, but I had hopes. Jon Stewart has always loved McCain and it seems that's not going to change anytime soon. Huge letdown. We're going to need to rebrand McCain on our own.

Jason Rae, co-chair of the DNC Youth Council and the youngest Super Delegate was kind enough to let the Daily Show lampoon him earlier this week. He's a good sport about it.

My second guest post at TPM Cafe is now live - The Conservative Youth Factory. Go check it out.

While you are waiting for today's returns to come in, check out these quick hits.

• At The Albany Project, Phillip Anderson lets us know about two youthful primary challengers to New York State Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver.
• Marc Ambinder lets us know that Hillary Clinton appeared on the Daily Show last night.
• The College Republicans have launched a new website (that looks half decent). The blog seems to consist of repetitive bad puns about Barack Obama's name. Go join THE STORM!
• Rock the Vote alerts me to the fact that Larry King recently ran segments on the youth vote featuring Josh Groban and Wyclef Jean. Why is it that singers who are older than me (Wyclef) or appeal to my mother (Groban) get to speak for my generation? (Not to look a gift-horse in the mouth - celebrity involvement is better than no involvement, and this is really a critique of Larry King, not Rock the Vote, Groban or Wyclef).

For your afternoon viewing pleasure. And if you've missed it, YouTube is planning to depose both Stewart and Colbert in their case against Viacom.

In case you missed it, last night our pals at Drinking Liberally were on The Daily Show in a segment with John Oliver about the YouTube/CNN debates. Watch the crew live up to their motto - saving democracy one pint at a time.

Things in the world of progressive youth politics worth checking out today:

• The Pew Research Center for People and the Press confirms that viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are still the most politically informed Americans. Score another one for the stoned slacker brigades.
• David All at Tech President outlines five types of viral video he'd like to see by November 2008 (with examples). It's a well thought-out selection (though not comprehensive), and some of his examples are right on the money.
• Lauren Wolfe, president of the College Democrats, was on MyDD Blog Talk Radio this weekend discussing the College Dems new New Media strategy. Facebook, Video, Podcasts and a new website launching in the fall, listen here (iTunes, Windows Media).
• Finally, a few weeks ago we told you that Mitt Romney was trying to entice young people to fundraise for his campaign by offering them 10% of all they raise above $1,000. Turns out that may not be so ethical.