About two weeks before the Olympics, I predicted that Romney was acting so brazenly slimy that sooner or later it would become chic to rag on him.
Soon afterward, he went on his foreign trip and started the ball rolling. The Brits were the first to publicly ridicule him. This week the US press has started to kick a little, notably it was Soledad O'Brien who started the "bullshit!" yodel which echoed around the halls of Washington.
Last night marked the completion of stage one.
Usually when a Late Night comedy host does a political bit they try to keep it even handed. Or at least take their shots and move on. But last night's Letterman monologue was a non-stop rag session. Mitt Romney is the new Price is Right male model. Paul Ryan looks like the guy at Olive Garden who comes up and asks how your meal is. On and on. Finally, at 4' 30" he lays the coup de grace. They play almost an entire Romney TV ad, then cut to one of Dave's crew watching on a monitor who turns to the camera and says "what a load of horse$@!#" When they cut back to the end of the ad, where Romney comes on and says he approves this message, he's pictured with a "dirty sanchez" moustache.
Then the Top 10 was "Rejected Lionel Richie Song Lyrics" sung by Lionel Richie. Again, they hammer Romney-Ryan in a couple of spots.
I know Dave leans left as much as Leno leans right (and thus the reason why I was tuned into The Late Show), but I was surprised at how blatantly partisan this episode was.
It wasn't Mitt's best day: It started with Joe S and Mika B ragging on Ryan not having "run the numbers" and ended with Letterman dedicating a good part of his show toward making a statement against him.