Pop culture and politics can be a tricky mix

Pop culture references in campaigns haven’t always involved celebrities. Walter Mondale in a 1984 debate took the inventive step of channeling a well-known commercial. Of rival Democrat Gary Hart’s policies, he asked: “Where’s the beef?” It was, of course, the slogan of the classic Wendy’s ad.

And as far back as 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower used newfangled Walt Disney animation in a groundbreaking TV ad — still viewable on YouTube — for his campaign against Adlai Stevenson.

But arguably the most famous pop culture reference in a campaign — exquisite in its succinctness — was Richard Nixon’s 1968 four-word appearance on “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In,” intoning the show’s catch phrase, “Sock it to me?” (Nixon added the question mark.) He defeated Hubert Humphrey, who producers apparently couldn’t get.

By 1992, candidate Bill Clinton knew how valuable it would be to play the saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” And these days, it’s a virtual rite of passage for candidates to appear on the late-night shows — sometimes, they even announce their candidacies on them.

They don’t simply chat. They duly appear in “Saturday Night Live” skits, read out David Letterman’s often humiliating Top Ten lists, or suffer through partisan questioning, in McCain’s case, from “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart.

Why do the candidates endure this? It’s free attention and airtime, it shows they’re somehow “with it,” and self-deprecating humor endears them to an audience. Thus, Hillary Rodham Clinton could show her looser side in a Letterman list of the top 10 things she loved about America: “Thanks to the Internet, I can order new pantsuits 24/7 — there’s your pantsuit joke, Dave. Are you happy now?”

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And on “Saturday Night Live” in May, McCain could joke about his age, something he likely wouldn’t do in an ad. “What should we be looking for in our next president?” the 71-year-old candidate asked. “Certainly someone who is very, very, very ... old.”

But when a politician veers into the attack mode of humor, it’s more controversial. “When you get into mockery, that’s where you potentially do more harm than good,” Kurtzman, of about.com, noted.

McCain himself has defended his recent ads as humorous. Whether he’ll do more remains to be seen. But when it comes to pop culture, political humorists suggest he update his references just a bit.

Maybe he can take a page from Paris Hilton’s book. Of her VP options, she says in her video, “I’m thinking Rihanna.”

Paris-Rihanna ’08? That could be cutting edge.

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