The Daily Show cheerfully tries to find the real conservative in Lindsey Graham's Senate primary
Daily Show
Normally when The Daily Show pays attention to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), it involves Jon Stewart and a ridiculous antebellum accent. There was a bit of that earlier on Monday night's show, but correspondent Jordan Klepper also tried something different... something remarkably similar to political reporting. Except funnier, of course. Noting that Republican incumbents tend to be most worried about challenges from their right, Klepper traveled down to South Carolina to find out who's the most conservative GOP candidate for Graham's Senate seat: Graham or the local politicians running against him.
Klepper only talked to one of the candidates, Bill Connor, but surrogates provide pretty emphatic cheerleading for Graham and a state senator named Lee Bright. This an impressive use of Comedy Central resources, given how few people care about the 2014 election this far out, but it's also an amusing look at the metrics we use to gauge ideology in today's purity-over-pragmatism political culture. Watch for the endorsement race alone. --Peter Weber
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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.
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