Which American presidents were able to tell a good joke? From Lincoln's down-home charm to Reagan's wit during the second '84 debate, Michael Phillips-Anderson considers the role of humor in a political campaign:
To be elected as a political leader in a democracy is to occupy three positions relative to the other citizens: they must be better than us, for they must lead us; they must be less than us because they err greatly and publicly; and they must be one of us, a citizen among their peers. Comedy can be a way of coping with such conflicting roles; rhetorical humor is a tool to help master them. …
The ridiculous overwhelms the reasonable and gives us one of the few authentic experiences in political rhetoric: it truly moves us. In that moment of laughter, what Thomas Hobbes called a "sudden glory," we feel connected to a democracy that too often leaves its people feeling powerless.
The Dish 