The writers of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” basically consider Coloradans a bunch of beer-guzzling, trout-fishing, ultrafit and suspiciously nice outdoorsmen. They led off the taping of Tuesday’s show — the first of three from the University of Denver during the DNC — with a beer-ad-spoof medley from their fake news correspondents.
“It’s Colorado, the entire state’s a beer ad,” riffed Assif Mandvi while thrusting a beer tap into a Styrofoam model of the Rocky Mountains. “That’s why the Democrats picked it, to show that they’re a bunch of Joe six-packs.”
Two-hundred and fifty audience members, who registered for tickets by e-mail months in advance and who waited at least two hours in blistering sun and another hour and half in the transplanted studio, caught the Denver premiere with guest Tim Kaine, the governor of Virginia who was on Barack Obama’s short list of vice-presidential running mates until selection of Sen. Joe Biden. Tuesday’s show aired in Denver from midnight to 12:30 a.m., MST.
Stewart answered audience questions prior to the cameras rolling and delivered some choice cracks that won’t make it onto the show. He opened in response to an overly amped audience greeting: “To have that kind of an ovation at this altitude is impressive — your health, your vigor. You’re all in very good shape.”
Colorado state Senate candidate Linda Newell yelled out to Stewart from the balcony for an endorsement. He looked up and asked, “Is that Jesus?” Then he cavalierly gave her his blessing before asking what state she’s running in. “Colorado? Can’t hurt me.”
Asked by an audience member about the out-of-the-way and largely unused protest zone in downtown Denver, Stewart yelled “that’s bullshit,” then deadpanned that it was the first he’d heard of the situation.
“The protesters should have a booth at the Pepsi Center,” Stewart said. “Are they water boarding them? I’m sorry … are they freedom swimming them?”
The show itself featured some outrageous shots at the vigorous outdoor image of Colorado and the Democrats’ push to camp onto that image. Correspondent John Oliver countered the beer-ad medley by saying, “If (the Democrats) are tapping into anything it’s their own sense of self-satisfaction.”
Later in the show Oliver delivered a canned feature piece about the Dems coming together in Denver by interviewing a group of disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters with deep-seated hatred of Obama. Oliver interviewed a child psychologist who said, “Sometimes children just aren’t ready for a group.”
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