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Participatory Satire? Political Humor, the Colbert Super PAC Project, and the Colliding Worlds of Late Night Comedy and Modern American Politics

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Participatory Satire? Political Humor, the Colbert Super PAC Project, and the Colliding Worlds of Late Night Comedy and Modern American Politics Participatory Satire? Political Humor, the Colbert Super PAC Project, and the Colliding Worlds of Late Night Comedy and Modern American Politics A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Nathan David Gilkerson IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Brian G. Southwell September 2012 © Nathan David Gilkerson, 2012 Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Brian Southwell, not only for encouraging me to pursue graduate school, but also for countless hours of invaluable advice and encouragement along the way. Beyond everything I‘ve learned from him, I feel fortunate to count Brian as a friend. I also would like to thank each of the members of my committee: Drs. Heather LaMarre, John Sullivan, and Dan Wackman. I am grateful for their keen insights and mentorship. I want to acknowledge the faculty and staff of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, for providing such an open and stimulating academic environment. I especially want to thank Dr. Al Tims for his guidance and support. I‘m also grateful for all the friends I‘ve made along the way in Murphy Hall and at the University of Minnesota. Last I want to thank both of my parents, especially my mother, for pushing me to continue on to graduate school — and for all of their love and support over the years. i Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Melissa, and our wonderful son, Truman. Melissa supported me with everlasting patience and encouragement, throughout all of the ups and downs of graduate school, and I am grateful for her belief in me. Thank you. ii Abstract Late night humor and satire is playing an increasingly significant role within our culture and political landscape. Most recently, comedians Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart have gone beyond the role satirists traditionally have played in skewering and making fun of politics — and instead have started becoming prominent participants and activists within the political process itself. This dissertation closely examines the developments of the Colbert Super PAC project and investigates how Colbert‘s efforts have transformed the traditional role of political satire into something new and unique within the American political landscape. The research examines this phenomenon to gain an understanding of the motives and intent behind the Colbert Super PAC, as well as perceptions and understanding of this ―participatory satire‖ among those within the journalism and campaign finance reform communities. Additionally the perspectives of several leading campaign election law experts are explored, along with analysis of media coverage focused on the Colbert Super PAC effort. Along with connections to existing theories within mass communication and political psychology, potential implications for this unique form of political humor within our democracy and future national political debates are discussed. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... v 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 - Literature Review ..................................................................................... 2 - Research Questions ................................................................................. 13 - Methodology ........................................................................................... 17 2. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION OF ―COLBERT SUPER PAC‖ EVENTS - Condensed Timeline ............................................................................... 19 - Detailed Timeline (analysis and commentary throughout) ..................... 23 3. NEWS COVERAGE & JOURNALISTS‘ PERSPECTIVES - Interviews with 11 national journalists ................................................. 104 - Summary and discussion of interview conversations ........................... 151 - Quantitative media coverage analysis ................................................... 168 4. PERSPECTIVES FROM ―PRO-REFORM‖ ADVOCACY COMMUNITY - Interviews with 3 campaign finance ―reform‖ advocates ..................... 177 5. PERSPECTIVES FROM ―FREE SPEECH‖ (ANTI-REGULATION) COMMUNITY - Interviews with 3 ―anti-reform‖ campaign finance advocates .............. 190 6. PERSPECTIVES OF F.E.C. AND CAMPAIGN ELECTION LAW EXPERTS .... 214 - Interview with Cynthia Bauerly (FEC commissioner) - Interview with Rick Hasen (academic campaign law expert) - Interview with Trevor Potter (Colbert‘s lawyer & former FEC chair) 7. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION - Research Summary ............................................................................... 237 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 255 Appendix A: List of Research Interviews ................................................................ 264 Appendix B: Interview Categories ........................................................................... 265 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Colbert Super PAC newspaper articles ..................................................... 169 Figure 2: Categories of ―Colbert Super PAC‖ major newspaper coverage .............. 170 v Introduction On June 30, 2011, comedian Stephen Colbert stood in front of a crowd of cheering supporters and journalists on the street outside of the building housing the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in Washington, D.C. Moments before, the FEC had issued an advisory opinion regarding Colbert‘s formation of a ―Super PAC‖ political action committee, titled ―Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.‖ Colbert had just filed the necessary legal paperwork required to make the creation of the political organization official. Maintaining his typical persona as an arrogant and ultra-conservative pundit, Colbert stood on a makeshift stage on the sidewalk before the throng of his fans and delivered an intentionally pompous and melodramatic political speech in which he declared, ―I am here to represent your voice… so you can all hear what you have to say through my mouth!‖ Colbert ended the speech declaring, ―We won! I AM a Super PAC, and so can you!‖ and then he immediately began accepting financial donations for the Super PAC via credit card transactions and cash, some of it in the form of wadded up bills thrown at him and his staff by the raucous supporters. In recent years, late night humor and satire has grown to play an increasingly significant role within our culture and political landscape — and more recently Colbert, and his political comedian peer Jon Stewart, have taken a more active role in advancing beyond just making fun of politics, and instead have started becoming prominent participants and activists within the political process itself. This dissertation closely examines the developments of the Colbert Super PAC project, from its first origins and throughout more than a year of its evolution, and investigates how Colbert‘s efforts have transformed the traditional role of political satire into something new and completely different and unique within the American political landscape. The following research examines the phenomenon to gain an understanding of not only the motives and intent behind the Colbert Super PAC, but also the perceptions and understanding of the satire (and any political messages, intended or unintended, within it) held by those within the 1 journalism and campaign finance reform communities. In addition, this research explores the perspectives of several campaign election law experts, including a recent chairwoman of the FEC, as well as a former FEC commissioner who is also serving as Colbert‘s personal lawyer for the project. Lastly along with an analysis of media coverage focused on the Colbert Super PAC effort, this dissertation offers a broad discussion of how Colbert‘s forays into ―participatory‖ satire, and other potential similar efforts, relate to existing theories of mass communication and political psychology — and how this unique form of political humor might continue to evolve in the future, serving a useful role in our democracy and wielding increasing influence within our national political debates. Literature Review Significant academic attention has recently been focused on the subject of humor and politics, with a growing number of political communication scholars interested in the topic of political humor and its influence on elections and public opinion. Research within this realm has focused on a variety of areas, ranging from the content of late-night political humor (Niven, Lichter, & Amundson, 2003), to priming effects of late-night political comedy (Moy, Xenos, & Hess, 2006), to political humor‘s influence over audience members‘ ratings of candidate traits (Young, 2006; Baumgartner & Morris, 2006). Research has concluded that the content of political comedy shows like the Late Show with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live (SNL) has varying effects on political knowledge, and that viewers‘ age and level of education may serve a moderating role (Cao, 2008). Research has focused on political learning examining the connections between exposure to late-night political humor (and other so-called ―soft news‖ programs) and heightened general political knowledge (Baum, 2003; Hollander, 2005), while other studies have concluded certain forms of political humor may serve to
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