There was one thing student supporters of both Bush and Kerry could agree on in Graham Chapel: They love Mo Rocca.
The Congress of the South 40 brought Rocca to campus Oct. 8 for the special post-debate event.
The slightly geeky, self-proclaimed “fake journalist” took the stage to thunderous applause after an introduction by Olin School of Business sophomore Jordan Katz, who said Rocca would put on a better show than “those two nobodies at the Athletic Complex.”
Rocca — whose credits include correspondent for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, frequent appearances on VH1’s I Love the ’80s and a new book, All the Presidents’ Pets — presided over a night of rapid-fire, comedic political commentary, mostly centered around the debate that had just ended.
He first noted that he found the debate riveting.
“Neither candidate should be president,” he quipped. “They should just keep debating.”
In what he called “my own town hall,” Rocca pulled six students from the audience — three Democrats and three Republicans — and peppered them with offbeat questions about the debate. The students tried to answer these basically unanswerable questions, with little success.
On an often-cited measure of likability — which of the candidates would you most like to have a beer with? — Rocca asked, “Since Bush doesn’t drink beer, does that make him less likable?”
He also asked, “Who has the better daughters, Bush or Kerry?” and “What does the ‘L’ in ‘Paul L. Bremer’ stand for?”
He noted that the candidates’ personalities might be reflected in their dogs. John Kerry has a German shepherd — “a thoughtful, intelligent breed” — named Cym (pronounced “Kim”), which Rocca called an overly complicated name.
George W. Bush has a Scottish terrier named Barney, “a rash, some might say pre-emptive breed.” The German shepherd is fourth on the most-popular breed list, and the Scottish terrier is 44th; but “Does the popular vote really matter?”
Rocca then took questions from the audience. When asked who he thought won the debate, Rocca answered Kerry had won because his cadence was better and Bush seemed too defensive. But he added that although Kerry was on the attack earlier that evening, his record in the Senate could come back to haunt him.
A student asked why Bush was hesitant to admit mistakes. Rocca said voters find something appealing in Bush’s black-and- white views of the world.
Another student asked if there was another Internet he didn’t know about in response to Bush’s reference to “Internets.” Rocca said he thought there must be a “Dick Cheney shadow-government Internet.”
Rocca then presented a slide show promoting All the Presidents’ Pets, after which he took a few more questions.
“Will you party with us after?” a student asked. “Yes,” Rocca replied to rousing cheers.