Study: Comics avoiding Obama jokes

• Tweet

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is unpopular among U.S. network comedians, a study by media analysts has found.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs study found that compared with other top politicians such as U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and expected Republican presidential nominee John McCain, the Illinois senator has gotten off lightly when it comes to being the butt of comedians' jokes, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

The study looked at the jokes made by TV comedians Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert between Jan. 1 and July 31 to determine its findings.

The final tallies for the top politicians were 549 jokes about McCain, the senator from Arizona, and 562 comic jabs at Clinton, who was once a White House hopeful herself.

President George Bush was the most targeted politician on the five comedians' U.S. shows with a final tally of 605 jokes being directed his way. Obama was last among the four notable names with only 382 jokes being lobbed at him, the Times said.