When You Have a Face and a Functioning Mouth

So I got made fun of on the Daily Show. And it wasn’t brief. I was lambasted for a solid two minutes that concluded with a graphic of a woman jumping in the air with my face superimposed on it. Jon Stewart made so much fun of my last name that random people at the grocery store three days later recognized it when they heard it. Then they immediately asked “Are you upset?” And the answer is no. First of all, it was hilarious. Secondly, it was actually better advertising than I could have ever paid for. My website received 4,000 hits over a 24 hour period and most people called to say I had truly made the big time. Do I think plenty of people snickered behind my back? Sure. But I’m a Democrat from Texas with a funny last name. I am used to being snickered at and it’s usually to my face. But perhaps the real question is whether Stewart was right. Do those of us who go on television as “Democratic and Republican Strategists and Analysts” know what the hell we’re talking about? Like everything else in politics – it depends. But for the most part – yes, we do. We read way too many newspapers and blogs and usually listen to radio and watch television all day. But most importantly, most of us read polling, understand cross tabs and media buys and can analyze a district based on past performance in under 10 seconds. It’s what we do. So yes, we know what we’re talking about. But does the media always ask brilliant questions? No. Are we trying to help out our respective parties by staying on message and sometimes that message is bad? Yes. And do we on occasion get tired and give bad answers? Of course. We’re human. So does it take more than a face and functioning mouth to be a talking head? Yes. Does it take more than that to get on the Daily Show? No, not really.Liz Chadderdon is president of the Chadderdon Group, a Democratic direct mail firm.  www.chadderdongroup.com