The Daily Background

Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” prominent media critic host Howard Kurtz asked guests Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post and Karen Tumulty of TIME Magazine about John McCain’s much-talked-about appearance on The Daily Show Tuesday.

Most of McCain’s tense appearance on the Comedy Central program was spent arguing with host Jon Stewart about Iraq, with the studio audience booing the Senator and Republican presidential hopeful at times (a video of McCain’s appearance can be viewed here). Stewart reassured audience members the next night that the two did not hate each other.

Kurtz even noted that Stewart seemed to be more of a journalist than some journalists, at one point noting that “most candidates on news shows don’t get challenged like that.”

“John McCain never wants to have footage where people are booing him when he’s talking about the war,” Cillizza said. “That’s not a good stance for him.”

Watch Kurtz and his guests discuss McCain’s sometimes-heated appearance on Reliable Sources below:

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Below is a transcript:

KURTZ: John McCain was on the “Daily Show” this week. He’s been on the Comedy Central program a number of times and here is what happened with Jon Stewart.

(VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Jon Stewart is one of the funniest guys of the planet, but he was dead serious.

CILLIZZA: I was just think too that that was on Comedy Central. It seemed like a very serious interview. Look, I think that politicians go on these kinds of shows, because they want to show that they are regular guys that they are not just sound bites and that kind of thing, but it can backfire. I think it did there. John McCain never wants to have footage where people are booing him when he’s talking about the war. That’s not a good stance for him.

I will say just quickly though, remember, the Comedy Central audience isn’t necessarily who John McCain needs to woo over to win this primary. In several of these early states, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, the war among Republican voters, those most conservative voters most likely to vote next year, he’s still relatively popular and the president of the United States is still relatively popular.

KURTZ: It’s fascinating to watch because most candidates on news shows don’t get challenged like that.

TUMULTY: The question is why he went on the Jon Stewart show in the first place. And I think it shows that John McCain doesn’t understand how the media context around him has changed. But the fact is…

KURTZ: So you’re saying that it was just a mistake to go on. He’s been on the show a number of times. He’s got a very good sense of humor. Why would he go on the “Daily Show?”

TUMULTY: Because of what we just saw, and I think that was a totally predictable thing to have happened to him. The problem for John McCain however is that he’s not that welcome on conservative shows either, because their viewers don’t trust him either.

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