Jon Stewart mocks the bipartisan fear and self-loathing in the 2014 midterm debates

Jon Stewart mocks the bipartisan fear and self-loathing in the 2014 midterm debates
(Image credit: The Daily Show)

Jon Stewart is clearly unimpressed with the tenor of the debate leading up to the 2014 midterm elections. But on Wednesday night's Daily Show he found three things that Democrats and Republicans in close Senate and House races seem to agree on. First, they all seem to be running against President Obama. "Do you see?" he said dryly. "All this country needed to come together is a common enemy, whether it be the Germans or the Soviets or the man we overwhelmingly re-elected to lead us 23 months ago."

The other two common denominators are fear and loathing. "This election's underlying theme is that both parties are so unpopular, that their candidates are running on how much they hate themselves," he said, adding that the GOP has "a slight advantage" because they "get to run on the anger resulting from" the broken government they've spent the last six years breaking. Stewart used Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as an example — and probably also so he could break out his crowd-pleasing Cecil Turtle impression.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.