Hit or Miss? Jeb Bush “Slow Jams the News” With Jimmy Fallon
Better to be part of the gag than the butt of the joke
Governor Bush joined Jimmy Fallon and The Roots to “Slow Jam The News” Tuesday night. The sketch geared towards newsy, political types, has featured Chris Christie, Mitt Romney, Brian Williams, and even President Obama.
Real news, or more accurately — talking points, are sandwiched between Jimmy Fallon’s pun-y innuendo and The Roots’ slow jams. Typically, the extra figure in the equation is mostly pedantic, but finds a way to have a little bit of fun with the schtick.
When Fallon made a 47% joke, Romney retorted, “that’s a low blow, but it’s pretty funny.”
So how did Jeb do?
CBS This Morning hosted a panel of New Hampshire Republicans who agreed to chat it up with Frank Luntz. Among their criticisms of Jeb was, “that Bush doesn’t have enough charisma.” They want a candidate who’s commanding and inspiring. One panelist said, “…Jeb just, his communication comes off as too gentle, not tough enough and not passionate enough.”
Widely criticized for being stiff-shirted and humorless, Slow Jam the News was an opportunity for Florida’s esteemed former Gov. to show the late night comedy consumer his dry sense of humor. Bush bared his Spanish-speaking chops, touted his record as a two-term Florida Governor, cracked about “Fifty Shades of Gray”, and dropped a Pitbull reference.
Bush chuckled, Fallon giggled, the audience laughed, and a good time was had by all.
In the post-slow jam interview with Fallon, Bush joked he was, “younger and better looking than his brother (Bush 43).” “It was love at first sight,” he said of his wife of forty-one years. The couple met while Jeb was helping to build a school outside of Leon, Mexico. She didn’t speak much English, he didn’t speak much Spanish, but “when you’re in love you can overcome those barriers. There’s another language that matters the most,” said Governor Bush.
Jeb’s Tonight Show appearance was a welcome departure from the norm. Usually late-night joke fodder, watching a Republican politician be part of the gag was refreshing. Regardless of Bush’s status as a 2016 presidential contender, seeing a Republican big wig willing to kid around and have a little fun with a mainstream audience, particularly in two languages, is ultimately a home run for the GOP brand.
More of this, please.
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Comments
omg
gag
Style! Substance? Who cares?
I’m with you Henry. Why are we playing pop culture Game of Thrones?
Voters need Firing Line not Jimmy Fallon.
And yes, I realize that a nation of pop culture dimwits voted for an unknown candidate because he is black and they hated “W”-the pop culture media sourced version; the blame Bush for everything version because “I have no domestic and foreign policy other than to blame someone or something else even the weather” version.
We should cause people to aspire to greatness and not for the ‘mind-spa’ of the cultural tar pits.
Frankly, Fallon, I don’t give a damn about pop culture. Let it burn to the ground.
Not bad. I actually thought it was pretty good. Definitely better than Romney’s… and I’m not even a Jeb? fan
Bring on the “Hillbilly banjo band” hecklers. Please!
Channel surfing in a break of the NBS finals.
looked like at one point Jeb was struggling so hard not to crack out laughing he probably peed his pants.
This, all by itself, should disqualify Jeb (or anyone else who stoops to it) from the presidency.
*yawn*
He’s going to get those independents. Right. Sure. No one is that dumb, except a GOP adviser.
just another reason to not turn on the vidiot…
I for one do not want another Tiger Beat, Chat Show president.
Go home, RINO, you’re drunk.
I blame Nixon.
He delivers one line on Laugh-In, and the American presidency goes all to hell.
Well, strictly, the American “not-quite-yet presidency” goes all to hell.
Debasing but it works. Like in high school when the Cool Kids would shove me into lockers. I would just laugh along with them and beg to carry their books and do their term papers. In the end they respected me. They even let me host a party while my parents were out of town. I don’t blame them for the fire either.
It’s unseemly, demeaning even. Try picturing a Ronald Reagan doing that. Yeah, I can’t either.
There’s a insidious belief among at least a couple writers here that how a candidate communicates is all that matters, that what is being communicated becomes superfluous, apparently. If young, self-described “conservatives” think things like this pop fart of a cultural blip is the way to go, this country is in trouble. But it’s new, Henry! New modern ways to communicate!
“Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible.” – Frank Moore Colby
Communicate what exactly? The method does not improve the message.
When you have nothing to say, snake oil to sell,or something to hide, you show up on the television show that Bush did.
How refined, couth, polished, eloquent, articulate, expressive, silver-tongued; persuasive, strong, forceful, powerful, potent, well expressed, effective, lucid, vivid, graphic; smooth-tongued he is.