Follow-up: Santorum's appearance on The Daily Show July 25, 2005

[Ian David]

The Daily Show: July 25, 2005
Posted Jul 26, 2005, 12:30 AM ET by Annie W
Filed under: Late Night, Cable, The Daily Show

Welcome back to another week of The Daily Show. Tonight's guest is Republican senator Rick Santorum. Yes, you heard that right: Santorum on The Daily Show. Jon Stewart also finds it a little surprising that they've managed to get him on the show. When he met Santorum backstage, Stewart "didn't expect his entourage to shout, 'Unclean!'" when they shook hands.

<snip>

Junior Republican Senator of Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, is here to promote his new book, It's Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good. As he walks on, I can feel the audience's reluctant applause and extreme struggle to keep from hissing. Stewart starts off by saying that he understands that he and Santorum share very different views on several subjects so he decides to start off on common ground. "I believe that ice cream is a delicious treat but too much will spoil the appetite," Stewart says. Santorum laughs and agrees. Huzzah! Common ground! Alright, to the book. Santorum's new book focuses on the supposed need for a male/female relationship to build a stable family. Stewart feels that focus on issues like homosexuality can be better spent on more important issues, bigger ills to society. Santorum believes that the family is the basic core to a good society and heterosexuality is essential in it. The whole point is to have a male and a female come together so they can have a child and carry on a generation. He feels as though the government should work to keep families together because it's so important. It's not based around sexuality or religion but all about the sake of the children. A male/female home is better for a child, he feels. The discussion goes around the same points, back and forth. Stewart politely points out that they've reached a point where neither party can be convinced.

After the commercial break, Santorum goes on to explain that he released this book because he cares enough to express his opinion. He feels as though Americans are not quite as virtuous as they used to be and part of the blame goes to pop culture. Stewart points out that back when segregation was at its peak, the country was extremely religious and tight so perhaps culture can't even be an indication on virtue.

More:
http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/07/26/the-daily-show-july-25-2005/



Santorum hits TV talk shows to promote book
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
By Maeve Reston, Post-Gazette National Bureau


<snip>

On The Daily Show, Santorum expounded on one of the themes of his book, arguing that conservatives have "abandoned the field" on poverty and saying government should play an active role in creating more savings and wealth-creation programs that help the poor.

<snip>

"Can you confuse virtue with heterosexuality?" the comedian host asked. "I live in New York City. ... We are in sea of homosexuality here. ... My experience has been virtue is unrelated to sexuality."

"Certainly people who are homosexuals can be virtuous and very often are," Santorum replied. But he stood by his stance that the most stable family unit was one with married heterosexuals. "So we should have a system that builds around what's best, and that's the traditional -- what I call 'natural' --family."

"But isn't even the natural family evolving?" Stewart pressed. "... Wouldn't a monogamous, good-hearted, virtuous homosexual couple be in society's best interest in raising a child, rather than a heterosexual couple with adultery, with alcohol issues, with other things?"

<snip>

"O.K, ... we can't get any further," Stewart said. "I don't think you're a bad dude; I don't think I'm a bad dude. But I literally can't convince you of the idea that I think it's doing society a disservice to dismiss the potential {of other unions}."

More:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05207/543786.stm


Senator hits the book circuit
Santorum's 'Family' keeps him busy
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
BY BRETT LIEBERMAN
Of Our Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Whether it takes a family or a village remains open for debate between U.S. Sens. Rick Santorum and Hillary Rodham Clinton, but one thing both might agree on is that it takes publicity.

<snip>

On the "Today" show yesterday, Santorum rebuffed criticism that the book is insensitive to women who must work.

He participated in an online chat on Washingtonpost.com yesterday afternoon and last night was scheduled to appear on FOX News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes," CNN's "NewsNight" with Aaron Brown, and Comedy Central's fake news program, "The Daily Show."

<snip>

"It takes a village, Rick, don't forget that," Clinton called out as the two passed in a narrow hallway of the U.S. Capitol recently, according to reports.

"It takes a family," he countered.

"Of course, a family is part of a village!" she replied during the brief encounter as neither stopped moving and continued walking in opposite directions.

Santorum is scheduled to appear on CNN's "Inside Politics" tomorrow afternoon and is taping "Hardball" with Chris Matthews tomorrow night.

He's also scheduled to have breakfast with reporters in Washington tomorrow and has been appearing on several radio programs.

No events are scheduled in Harrisburg, but Santorum will stop in suburban Philadelphia Aug. 3 and 4 and in Pittsburgh Aug. 5.


More:
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/112236968968130.xml&coll=1



WHY CAN'T JON STEWART MAKE AN ARGUMENT?
Peace Keeper
by T. A. Frank
Only at TNR Online
Post date: 07.26.05

Last October, Tucker Carlson made a good point. (It happens.) Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" had turned up on "Crossfire" to upbraid his hosts for "hurting America" and "doing theater, when you should be doing debate." Carlson, unimpressed, suggested that Stewart, too, was failing the public: "Kerry won't come on this show. He will come on your show. ... Why not ask him a real question instead of just suck up to him?" Stewart went for evasion: "I didn't realize that ... news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity." When Carlson revisited the point, Stewart took the same tack as before: "You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls." Clever line--but still a dodge.

The truth, as Stewart knows, is that "The Daily Show" isn't just comedy. What gives his show heft--what makes it true satire--is that the program brings actual conviction to the stories it covers. Sure, it's willing to digress into sheer silliness, but it just as often finds an ingenious way to make a serious point. The mystery, then, is why the sharpness vanishes as soon as a guest arrives on the set. No one asks that Stewart lay into someone like Reese Witherspoon; but why should John Kerry, a politician dodging real news shows, get such gentle treatment? And it's not just Kerry. With most political guests, Stewart sticks to harmless questions and gentle quips, and he seems unable to pursue an argument. Rarely have such flaws been more pronounced than last night, when Senator Rick Santorum appeared on the set.

It should have been great. Santorum, on the show to promote his new book It Takes a Family, isn't shy about sharing his views. He has blamed Boston's political liberalism for the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal; he has compared homosexuality to "man on dog"; and he has equated Democratic attempts to preserve the filibuster to "Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying, 'I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me? How dare you bomb my city? It's mine.'" Surely with material like this, Stewart could get a spirited debate going. Yet the only solid part of the interview was the start:

<snip>

Here are some other questions Stewart asked: "What do people misunderstand about Rick Santorum?" "What would you like to say to people?" "Are we more corrupt now, do you think, than we were?" And here is Stewart trying to sum up the exchange on homosexuality: "But ultimately you end up getting to this point. Like it's this crazy stopping point, where literally you can't get any further. I don't think that you're a bad dude. I don't think that I'm a bad dude. But I literally can't convince you of the idea that it's doing society a disservice to dismiss the potential of these really ... " Little of this managed to rattle the senator.

Undeniably, Stewart can rescue a lot with his tremendously quick wit. When Santorum gave a high-minded assessment of the purpose of marriage, Stewart responded, "I completely agree, though I always thought the purpose of marriage was the bachelor party." When Santorum warned of the "messages hitting young people today," Stewart came back with "Are you suggesting that talking lizards shouldn't be selling beer?" But it's a shame that such agility accompanies spineless questioning; it could equally well provide comic relief during a tough interview. Moreover, swift quipping and swift reasoning are two different things. Stewart has the ability to do the former, but not the latter. (He's still lucky--most of us have neither.) One imagines that with more preparation he could get better at anticipating the sort of fudging his political interviewees might try to pull. Instead, Stewart appears to be winging it. Perhaps the best summation of the interview with Santorum was given by Stewart himself: "I do think that these kinds of conversations are illuminating, for myself, and really only for me." It was a funny, self-deprecating quip. Unfortunately, it was also true.

More:
(Go to http://www.BugMeNot.com for login/password)
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=w050725&s=frank072605

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Video:
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[ellenfl]

1. i thought jon stewart made his points without having to beat up on the

guest. after all, who would come on his show if they thought they would be attacked? jon's method is to make the suggestion and let you draw the conclusion. i thought he did very well in disarming santorum last night. the rw hosts can attack because their guests are mostly rw themselves and it serves the propaganda.

regardless of how 'soft' he seems on his guests, no one speaks the truth like jon stewart (and his co-horts). and why does he need to attack kerry anyway?

if you don't like jon's style, watch o'really instead.

ellen fl

[Ian David]

2. Agreed on all points. n/t

[Kerrytravelers]

3. Well said!

[Kolesar]

5. well said

:loveya:

[Kerrytravelers]

4. Thank you for such a comprehensive post! Well done.