NEW YORK -- Since last October, when President Barack Obama visited the set of "The Daily Show," the majority of political guests on the show have been conservatives.
Though he leans left, host Jon Stewart has coaxed plenty of Republicans -- including potential 2012 contenders Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich, Tea Party leader Dick Armey and even longtime punching bags like former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former RNC chair Michael Steele -- to appear on his show and engage in lively debate with one of the most well-respected interviewers on television. But a few high-profile conservatives looking to expand their base and move new books keep declining the show's invitations, despite the fact that Stewart is typically gracious with right-wing guests (after his recent appearance, one of the toughest interviews he endured on his book tour, Rumsfeld tweeted: "Just wrapped up one of the most thoughtful interviews of book tour with @thedailyshow").
Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney and John McCain -- whose last appearance was in early 2008 -- keep holding out on Stewart, most likely due to a strategic call that there are more minuses than pluses to being a guest, especially the potential to commit a gaffe that is bound to make headlines, say media analysts.
Palin has been invited numerous times by Stewart, most recently on Jan. 18 during an extended mockathon. "Join me -- I would love to have a conversation with you. We'll do it in my studio, your wilderness utopia," Stewart quipped. "You could have Glenn Beck sit next to us or between us. I want him to come on too. He won't do it either. I promise a pleasant, respectful and classy conversation."
Asked for comment, Palin aide and unofficial spokeswoman Rebecca Mansour emailed The Huffington Post, claiming that Palin "doesn't recall being invited on Jon Stewart's show" and that no one at her political action committee, SarahPAC "remembers seeing an invitation," adding that the former governor's Fox News contract precludes her from appearing on other networks without approval.
When it was suggested that perhaps she and the other holdouts were afraid to go on the show, Mansour emphasized: "She is certainly not 'afraid' to go on his or any show. Sometimes she chooses to avoid a show, such as David Letterman's, because she doesn't want to give it a ratings or publicity boost. But afraid? No way."
In a follow-up email, Mansour was more vehement: "She's not afraid of his show. She doesn't think about him all that much. Neither do I. However, I do recall that he's been rather vicious in his coverage of her, so I'm not sure why she would even want to appear on his show to give him a ratings boost. If you continue to imply that she's afraid of appearing on a comedian's satire news show, then you're just plain wrong. She's stared down big oil companies and won. Jon Stewart isn't all that intimidating."
No comments:
Post a Comment