The Capitol Steps
dome it down
From trade show floors to convention halls,
political speakers have been in demand as the mouthpiece of choice.
And with this election year chock full of contentious issues and
classic mudslinging, there is plenty of fodder for a good laugh at
the body politic. “There are so many issues in this election year
that the demand for political speakers has shot up, and there is
humor in almost all of it,” says Bernie Swain, CEO of the
Washington, D.C.-based Washington Speakers Bureau (www.washingtonspeakers.com). Following is a selection
of several entertaining pundits on the speaker circuit.
A veteran talk radio political analyst, Alan Colmes (www.alan.com), co-host of
FOX News’ Hannity & Colmes, has interviewed and skewered a
number of political standouts, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore,
Ralph Nader and Kenneth Starr. He also is the author of Red, White
& Liberal: How Left Is Right & Right Is Wrong (Regan
Books).
A 26-member troupe of former Congressional staffers, The
Capitol Steps (www.capsteps.com) has been satirizing the bungles and
scandals of Capitol Hill for 17 years with a song-and-dance routine
that includes tunes such as “A Whole Newt World,” “We Arm the
World,” “Fools on the Hill” and “Don’t Cry For Me Judge
Scalia.”
Impressionist and stand-up comedian Jim Morris (www.Jim-Morris.com)
is a one-man riot. A regular on television talk shows, such as
CNN’s Crossfire and ABC’s Politically Incorrect, he has been
lampooning the absurdities of the White House for years with
dead-on imitations of presidents Reagan, Bush (the elder) and
Clinton, as well as newsmakers Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw.