'The Daily Show:' recap - 9/5: Day 2 of the DNC

On the September 5 episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart and the correspondents are on their second day covering the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

They start the show off by talking about the intense security in Charlotte because of the convention. Each correspondent, with the exception of John Oliver, is stuck at some checkpoint because the access point keeps getting shifted. Only Al Madrigal is able to get in, but his cameraman is still stuck beyond the barricades.

Then Stewart moves on to discuss the actual first night of the DNC by discussing the many “platitudes” the democrats use to fight the stereotypes non-Democrats are likely to have of them. These efforts mainly include speeches by clergymen and soldiers. However, Stewart says that the “prime directive” of the night is to fight the Republican’s idea of Obama as a failed President. Stewart shows clips of a number of different speeches, including Michelle Obama’s speech, talking about all the things Obama has accomplished and the things he does on a daily basis. Then John Oliver comes on to tell the epic tale of Obama saving him from choking on a hot dog.

The final piece is poking holes in the claim that the Democratic party is the all inclusive “Big Tent” party. They show numerous clips of Democrats at the convention mocking or listing the people not allowed in the party, which includes people who are anti-science, church going, slack jaw evangelical gun nuts. Samantha Bee and Jason Jones do an excellent job of showing that, while the Democratic party is very inclusive, they are hardly all inclusive and that the Democrats (the ones that actually made it into the piece, at least) can be rather harsh in their descriptions of those they find unacceptable.

Finally, the episode ends with Senator Kristen Gillibrand as the guest. This is one of the most awkward interviews I have seen on The Daily Show. Gillibrand spent almost the whole time awkwardly laughing and Stewart hardly asked any question. He seemed mostly confused as to how to fix the interview. They briefly discussed the atmosphere of the DNC and then moved on to the importance of women as a demographic in the election. Gillibrand even mentioned her belief that if there were more women in Congress then things would work better, which Stewart was clearly not sure what to do with. There were no extra five minutes put on the web, which is unusual for Stewart’s interviews with politicians, but it was not surprising with this one.

Overall, it was a good episode, though no part stood out as particularly funny and the interview was kind of painful to watch.