Liberal Comedian Jon Stewart – Influence Greatly Exaggerated

Last month’s announcement that Jon Stewart was leaving The Daily Show set off rounds of grief in liberal circles and glee in conservative ones.

Stewart, a leftist with a sense of humor (usually an oxymoronic combination) was the star of the Comedy Central Network for nearly fifteen years and plainly had a loyal audience.  But to hear the reaction to his departure, one would think it was a monumental development on the broad American scene. 

It was not.    For how could it have been when his highest level of viewership during his fifteen year reign did not exceed two million (by contrast, recently disgraced anchor Brian Williams was watched by nearly ten million)?

But wasn’t Stewart supposed to have been especially popular among the so-called millennial generation (18-29 years old)?  Again, not true.

Surveys indicate that, at best, forty percent of The Daily Show’s viewers were in that age group.  And with a total of fifty-three million millennials, that meant that fewer than two percent were fans.

 

So how can one explain the reaction?  Undoubtedly, Jon Stewart was particularly popular with the self-proclaimed “hipster” types over- represented in media centers like New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles.  One suspects the grieving leftists had told themselves that Stewart spoke for that generation when he ridiculed those on the right and went easy on the foibles of the left.  So they can console themselves, if they reflect on the statistics just recited, that they haven’t lost as much as they feared. 

And for us conservatives, the glee should be muted.  Although Jon Stewart turned out not to be the pied piper of the young generation, there’s no denying that they were integral part of our leftist president’s election and reelection.

Where will they be in 2016?  That certainly remains an open question.  Jon Stewart or no Jon Stewart.