Romney jokes on TV outnumber Obama punchlines by 2 to 1.

A recent study by George Mason University found that:

• Romney jokes on late-night TV outpaced Obama jokes 2-1 

• From Aug. 27 to Oct. 3, 2012, researchers cataloged the political punch lines of Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, and Craig Ferguson—428 jokes in all—Letterman was by far the biggest Romney mocker compared with his relatively gentle treatment of Obama.  

• Letterman told 44 jokes about Romney and 9 about Obama, a five to one margin.” 

• “Mitt Romney was the target of 148 jokes on late night talk show monologues, over twice as many as President Obama. Obama finished second with 62 jokes.

So why is this happening?  Well....

The comedy biz is dominated by people whose political and cultural biases are more closely aligned with a so-called liberal Democrat. In other words, they might feel more connected to a cool, hip post-baby boomer who has admitted, in his youth, to smoking marijuana and doing “a little blow” than they do with a straight-laced Mormon in his mid-60s who won’t even sip a beer.

Does being the butt of political jokes matter, and decrease a candidates possibility of becoming president?  The article found:

“The short answer is fairly straightforward,” says Jody Baumgartner, a political science professor at East Carolina University who studies the impact of political humor. “When jokes are made—particularly about a political figure, or a party, or a process, or an institution—people’s perceptions or opinions of the target of the joke go down. So it does matter. It absolutely matters.”

Check out the full article here