Right-Wing Zingers

Republicans lately seem to be trying harder to be funny than ever before. And in many cases, they’re actually succeeding—albeit in a a “Charlie Cook thinks we’re screwed anyway, so we might as well stop pretending to take ourselves seriously” kind of way.

First there was this web ad put out July 29 by the RNC right after Barack Obama’s Berlin speech. Take note of the Euro-techno soundtrack (it’s awfully hard not to), the epilepsy-inducing mockery of Obama campaign buzzwords, and the copious David Hasselhoff references. Juvenile? Most definitely. And I doubt that a commercial that seems designed solely to rip on Europeans is going to score John McCain votes he wouldn’t have gained anyway. But give the GOP credit for putting out something good for a one-time chuckle, even if it does reek of spite and cynicism.

Not content to let the presidential campaign steal their thunder, that same week House Republicans made good on a longstanding threat to bring the Democratic majority to its knees and force a vote on comprehensive energy legislation before Congress left for summer recess—by getting outvoted on an adjournment legislation and then sticking around for another week and a half (and counting) to complain about it. Regardless of what you think about offshore drilling, or whether you believe any of the leaders of the GOP revolt when they proclaim that they’re serving any cause higher than getting as much media coverage as possible, I think there’s something we can all appreciate in this.

What these House GOP diehards—the original protest involved almost 50 of them, but subsequent days typically see about 20 appear on a rotating basis—are doing right now is probably the most entertaining thing that’s happened in the lower chamber in decades. When the Democrats cut the mics in the House chamber, the Republicans brought megaphones. When the C-SPAN cameras darkened, the GOP Twittered . And uploaded homemade videos from their cell phones that seemed to have been pulled straight from the Blair Witch Project. The protesters even yanked people away from their Capitol tours and brought them to the floor so their speeches could have a live audience.

On the floor, the Republicans yelled. They waved prop gas tanks in the air. Rep. Steve King of Iowa was thoughtful enough to bring along a blown-up, comically unflattering photo of Nancy Pelosi labeled with the caption “I want to save the planet.” They slapped each other on the back. They bro-hugged. The first session—along with many subsequent ones—ended with group sing-alongs to “God Bless America.”

The funniest part of all this? They started claiming that what they were doing was actually helping lower gas prices.

You may find what the Republicans are doing to be ridiculous. And to some degree offensive (in all seriousness, the King photo was pretty reprehensible). But I insist that it’s still something to admire, at the very least simply because politicians don’t *do* stuff like this anymore.

So what’s the point of all this musing? Why do I care that Republicans are suddenly being funny? I don’t think it’s going to win them any elections this fall. After all, what does it say about the McCain campaign that it’s relying on ad hominem attacks—witty ad hominem attacks, yes, but still personal and not substantive—to make its point against Obama when the economy’s in the tank and we’re still worrying about Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran (and now the Russians)? And the polls continue to indicatethat even as voters express unprecedented dissatisfaction with Congress, they’re even more dissatisfied with Republicans—it seems like not even their stalwart stance on the drilling issue can save them from electoral doom in both chambers of Congress, even if it may get them the vote that they want. (Side note: sometimes in my nightmares I picture Chuck Schumer huddling in the offices of the DSCC wringing his hands in maniacal glee, throwing his head to the sky like some Bond movie villain and bellowing “SIXTY! SIXTY! YEEEEEEEEEES, AT LAST!”)

I guess the point of this post is more personal than anything else—even as I marvel at it, it *bothers *me that the party of such legendary effetes as Janeane Garofalo and Alec Baldwin is actually getting outsnarked this election cycle. When Paris Hilton musters up a wittier response to those “Celeb” ads than the Obama campaign or DNC—that’s a problem. When the funniest joke Barack Obama makes as the nominee of his party is reversing his stance on seating the Florida and Michigan delegations at the convention—that’s a bigger problem. Maybe there’s something that the Dems can learn from their opponents this time around. I’m not arguing that Obama or anyone else needs to fight the GOP’s brand of election humor with cynicism of their own. All I’m saying is that it’s better to at least try to be funny in a way that people can identify with—and seem, you know, *human*—than to run away from humor entirely. And I can’t help but feel that Democrats in 2008 have resigned themselves to the latter approach. They might win anyway, but it seems to me like it might be more fun to win laughing.

––Joey Michalakes, Interviews Editor