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Why Our Presidential Candidates Could Use a Sense of Humor
When did everybody become so humorless?
The idea that we’re just getting wound up for the final 13-month sprint of our political campaign has me thinking the unthinkable: SpongeBob SquarePants might be a viable TV option.
When did our presidential campaigns begin spanning a three-year period? And more importantly, when did our contenders become so earnest, humorless, and angry?
I heard a news pundit say, “We’ve got the biggest crisis ever in our country right now.”
We do have a crisis, but it’s not what the news pundit was talking about. Our crisis seems to be that America has lost its sense of humor. Too many candidates are coming across as scolds.
And that’s not what wins elections.
Robert Langley said in America’s Funniest Presidents, “Throughout America’s history politicians at all levels of government have used their wit and often self-deprecating sense of humor to ‘humanize’ and endear themselves to voters.”
Where is the endearment?
If the Democrats want to win, they are going to have to endear themselves to swing voters. The same goes for Republicans. But when the most entertaining part of a political debate is Cory Booker’s expression…
