NEW YORK (AP) - Late-night comics are over any initial reluctance to make President Barack Obama the butt of their jokes.
The Center for Media and Public Affairs found that Obama was the most joked-about political figure this year through Labor Day. The Washington-based think tank said Friday that Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon joked about Obama a total of 309 times. Sarah Palin, with 137, was a distant second.
That's in line with the level of jokes levied at Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Comics initially had a difficult time zeroing in on Obama - he was fourth behind John McCain, Bush and Palin as a butt of jokes during the year he was elected president.
The center says most Obama jokes portray him as disinterested or ineffective. Much of them are tied to policy.