Day Twenty-nine, April 23

In case anybody missed it (I did--we don't have Comedy Central), Obama made his third appearance on The Daily Show With John Stewart on Monday. Here's a capture of the appearance, courtesy of The Daily Show's Indecision 2008 website:

Part uno!



Part dos!



It's appearances like this (note: McCain and Hillary have also showed up on the show) that make me think about how much the American political process, campaigning in particular, has changed in the last 50 years. Just imagine the novelty of being able to watch Kennedy and Nixon's debate on TV, and how Nixon's ugly mug was enough of a chip against him to see him narrowly lose the election. Now compare that to how politicians are not only out there campaigning in ways never thought possible as recent as ten or fifteen years ago. The media's eyes are always on the candidates now, it feels like they have no choice but to be 'on' every hour of every day during this race. That's why it's assuring to see Barack in such a composed but warm and laid-back state on an appearance like this. We all love to watch the man speak, but sometimes, it's just as nice to see him do it from behind a desk instead of a podium. Plus, just look at him talk with those hands!