By Terri Schwartz

In the words of one of my distinguished professors: I enjoyed watching Sarah Palin’s impression of Tina Fey at the vice-presidential debate.

We live in an age when late night comedy shows don’t just make fun of the political sphere; they’re a part of it. Take Jon Stewart, who will be gracing our campus next Friday night. Most renowned for his late night mock-news program, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” some have credited him with the 2004 demise of the CNN program “Crossfire” after he made a guest appearance and tore the anchors some new ones.

Back to Tina Fey. When Sarah Palin was first announced as John McCain’s vice-presidential candidate, some people were ecstatic – not because they thought she would make a good vice president, but because she was a dead ringer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) star Tina Fey. SNL opened up to record viewers watching its season premiere Sept. 15., according to Nielsen Media Research. And lo and behold, opening the show were Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, starring as Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, respectively.

Fey has reprised the role twice since: as Palin in her interview with Katie Couric, and as Palin taking on Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden in the vice presidential debates. I have spoken to many college students who take this portrayal too seriously (though Palin does tend to make a joke of herself in other ways), and confuse the line between what is reality and what is just comedy. This gets dangerous, because when joining the political sphere, they can be biased towards one party or another based on the comedic angle taken by late-night comedy.

However, regardless of how they get mocked on these shows, political and popular figures seem to find that it is just as important to make an appearance with David Letterman as it is to get interviewed by Tom Brokaw. Maybe it is the fact that their appearances on these shows will appeal more broadly to a college-aged audience, or maybe they just like to show that they can poke fun at themselves, but late night comedy is taking itself pretty seriously when it comes to the presidential campaign.

Take for instance Letterman. Two weeks ago, John McCain blew off an appearance on “The Late Show” at the very last minute, stating that he had to go to Washington to help fix the economic crisis (this was about the same time he suspended his campaign to do the same thing, according to local media reports). Letterman, completely riffed by this slight, spent the rest of the show filling the gap time where McCain was supposed to speak by ranting about McCain’s last minute change in plans.

Except Letterman went beyond ranting. He started explaining to McCain via his broadcast how he should run his campaign. How, instead of suspending his campaign to go to Washington, he should have his vice presidential candidate continue campaigning for both of them. Letterman couldn’t let it go: Over the next few nights he continued to trash McCain, showing footage of the senator having makeup put on him for different interviews around New York instead of heading back to Washington like he had originally stated.

Letterman’s outraged series of late night episodes might not have necessarily hurt McCain’s campaign in the way that it was clear he was attempting to, but the importance Letterman placed upon McCain’s appearance on his show demonstrates the serious role late night comedy now plays in today’s political spectrum.

“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” might be the greatest example of this. Having won “Outstanding Variety, Musical or Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program” Emmys eleven times total, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” is one of the greatest achievements of late night television. Jon Stewart, who anchors the show, not only mocks the news but explains it in ways that will draw younger viewers to watch and care about current events. Sure, the show is biased; but it’s not real news coverage, so it’s allowed to be. But Stewart takes swings at both sides when they make mistakes or act bizarrely.

Late night comedy is a gateway to true political awareness. As long as viewers understand that what is reported on these shows is not the stone-cold truth and they pursue a true news source to counterweigh what they are watching, then shows like “The Daily Show” and “Saturday Night Live” are great, not only for getting a good chuckle every night, but for inducting us into politics.

– Terri Schwartz can be reached at [email protected].