John Kerry on The Daily Show

By Margaret Lyons in News on Aug 25, 2004 12:35PM

So John Kerry was on The Daily Show last night, trying to woo youngsters and seem 'hip.' It almost worked, too. He had his moments, specifically when he and Jon Stewart folded their arms and looked right at each other from only a few inches away, which was actually adorable in an unexpected and possibly wrong and gross way. Kerry was sporting one of those oh my god, cancer awareness is so trendy Lance Armstrong bracelets (which we totally want, not going to lie), and he seemed excited and even a little nervous. But he kept trying to make jokes, and if there’s anything we’ve learned from watching The Daily Show every day since sophomore year of high school it’s that unless you are actually an extremely funny person, don’t go on this show and ham it up, trying to crack one-liners all sarcastic like. Just have a good time. Jon Stewart will make lots of jokes—really, the jokes are pretty much taken care of—you just have to be yourself. Kerry just came across as a little forced and little uncomfortable…to the shock of absolutely no one because that’s just how he always is.

Some of the previews and reviews we’ve read so far have compared Kerry’s appearance last night to Clinton’s appearance on Arsenio Hall in 1992, and most have said that it’s barely a contest: Bill Clinton is just so good (say it in a Teen Girl Squad voice) at being cool. We watch a lot of West Wing, so we really understand how this stuff works, and the point for last night was not to make Kerry cool, which is probably never going to happen. No, the point was that now everyone is talking about how Kerry is a little cooler than we maybe thought and about how going on the Daily Show is ballsy and demonstrates a desire to connect with a younger, more cynical audience. Et cetera.

Let’s turn this one over to the masses: how did Kerry do on The Daily Show last night?