Jon Stewart and
staff from Comedy Central's The Daily Show
fielded questions from Ohio State University students at a
special appearance, but the comedian also had a query of his
own. ''A buckeye is a gay acorn, right?'' Stewart
asked about 12,000 people gathered at Value City Arena
in Columbus. ''Buckeye,'' a type of chestnut tree, is
an informal name for people living in the Midwestern state.
The popular TV news parody is gearing up for a
week of broadcasts from Ohio for its ''Midwest Midterm
Midtacular'' ahead of the November 7 midterm election,
when control of Congress is at stake. The appearance,
not planned for broadcast, was added after spaces for the
four nights of tapings at the university's more
intimate Roy Bowen Theatre filled up.
''How better to spend a Saturday night than at a
moderated forum,'' Stewart quipped. He had said the
excursion was the show's fifth trip outside New York
in 10 years but its first to ''a random zone'' outside a
big city on the East or West coast.
''We wanted to go there because Ohio was so
crucial last time. They were sort of the focal point,
the swing state, if you will,'' he told the Associated
Press in an interview Friday. ''We want to know what
happened to all that loving attention that they were
given in 2004, and if they feel lonely.''
Ohio was the closely contested swing state that
tipped the 2004 presidential election to President
George W. Bush over his Democratic challenger, Sen.
John Kerry. On Saturday, Stewart and the crew, including
correspondents Jason Jones and Samantha Bee, showed clips
from the show and answered questions provided in advance.
They also peppered students with questions about
college life, including whether pets and
methamphetamine labs were allowed on campus. At one
point, Stewart said there was going to be a party in his
dorm room later that night, drawing cheers from the crowd.
The topic turned to politics, with Stewart being
asked if he would be disappointed when President Bush,
Vice President Dick Cheney, and Defense secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld left office and no longer provided fodder
for the comedian's act.
''No,'' he said bluntly, then launched into his
impression of Cheney.
Stewart previously said many of the big-name
politicians the show approached, including U.S.
senators George Voinovich and Mike DeWine, Gov. Bob
Taft, and gubernatorial candidates Ted Strickland and Ken
Blackwell, declined to participate in the excursion.
Basketball star LeBron James of the Cleveland
Cavaliers was to be the featured guest Monday at the
first of the Daily Show tapings. (AP)