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Measuring the "Colbert Bump"
An anonymous reader writes "Democratic politicians receive a 40% increase in contributions in the 30 days after appearing on the comedy cable show The Colbert Report. In contrast, their Republican counterparts essentially gain nothing. Moreover, even a cursory analysis demonstrates that despite being a comedy program The Colbert Report appears to exercise 'disproportionate real world influence' — likely due to the 'elite demographic' of its audience." In my home we refer to Stephen as "Loud Daddy" because my child would scream bloody murder when we paused him (and only him) on screen. Even at 8 months old the kid has strange taste.
If you look at the charts in the original article, the bump starts around two weeks before they actually appear on the show. Which makes me suspect that the Bump is more likely due to the candidate making a round of interviews (of which Colbert is one), rather than it being due specifically to the Colbert interview.
Mark Smith was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "...he hadn't seen much of Colbert's work" and he was the one who invited Colbert. People walked out. The reception was mostly silent and unfriendly. Bush himself looks like he's wondering how to get Colbert sent to Gitmo.
Some conservatives may be able to take a joke (Scalia apparently laughed his ass off), but Bush isn't one of them. In his whole Presidency this was probably the only time he was forced to sit and listen to someone rip on him for his policies, and it's clear from the video that he didn't enjoy it.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
^ Written by someone who obviously never watched The Daily Show during Clinton's administration.
Xenon, where's my money? -Borno