Not-so-Funny Business With Late-Night Political Humor?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Late-Night Agenda?
A new study reveals late-night comics are not fair and balanced when it comes to the election — not really a shocker. But the non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs says David Letterman and Jay Leno are skewering the Republican candidates seven times more than the Democrats.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The group says that during the five weeks after John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, Leno and Letterman picked on McCain and Palin 286 times, but told just 42 jokes about Barack Obama and Joe Biden. There were 106 McCain jokes and a whopping 180 about Palin. Obama was targeted 26 times, and Joe Biden just 16 times, less than one-tenth the number of jokes about Palin.
Book Review
The head of Wisconsin's Republican Party is calling the school district in Racine a "satellite campaign office" for Obama.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Eighth-graders in Racine are using a literature textbook that includes a chapter on Obama, but nothing about John McCain. The "Dreams From My Father" chapter features an excerpt from Obama's 2004 speech at the Democratic Convention and a portion of his 1995 autobiography. The textbook's publisher says it was compiled in 2005 before Obama was a candidate.
But state GOP executive director Mark Jefferson says: "You don't have to look very far outside of the Democratic presidential nominee to come up with other stories of inspiration."
The school district says it has received no other complaints, but is reviewing its policy regarding the book's use.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Safe Bet?
There are 18 days before voters go to the polls, but Ireland's largest bookmaker says the race is already over.
Paddy Power will pay out early more than one-and-a-third million-dollars on bets that Senator Obama will win. The Dublin-based betting shop says it made the call following Wednesday's final presidential debate: "We declare this race well and truly over and congratulate all those who backed Obama."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The bookmaker has a tradition of gaining free publicity by paying early, but it also has a record of getting results wrong. In June, the company paid out early in favor of people who bet Irish voters would approve the European Union's latest treaty. The next day a "no" result cost it a hefty sum when it had to pay off both sides of the bet.
Food Fight
And finally, Montana Republican gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown is accusing Democrats of spreading a vicious rumor about him. But it is not what you think.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brown insists, "I am not and have never been a vegetarian."
Brown was responding to an e-mail sent by his neighbor to the chairman of the Montana Democratic Party, who is also a cattle rancher. The note says Brown once told his neighbors that he and his wife are vegetarians.
Said the note: "Would it not be a problem, in a state where cattle ranching is such a vital industry, to have a governor who does not eat meat?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But Brown denies the accusation vigorously. He says he and his family temporarily cut back on meat and dairy products 25 years ago because they were caring for a dying loved one who could not eat those foods.
— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.