When Obama Met Stewart

Despite explaining health care reform, the economy and even a ceremonial mug presentation, the takeaway from President Obama on The Daily Show? Dude.

Jon Stewart’s moment of off-the-cuff reference to the commander-in-chief was just one of the great moments during the 31-minute interview that aired last night on Comedy Central as part of the Midterm Teapartyganza coverage that The Daily Show is providing live from DC this week.

After coming out to insane applause and presented “Mug Force One” by Stewart, the questions for the economy and midterms came out flying at Obama. Throughout the interview, the tone wildly shifts from Stewart’s own skepticism hidden as jokes to the types of blunt responses that the President has issued at previous Town Hall style debates since September.

And yet, this wasn’t the softball interview that a number of on air anchors claim it was.

Politico runs with Jon Stewart Getting Serious: “Stewart appeared set on proving his independence from Obama and the White House, choosing to advance the critique from the left that Obama — who appeared, at times, chastened — had been too cautious and moderate in advancing and selling his presidency.”

Of course, as avid watchers of The Daily Show know, Stewart isn’t a softball interview when he wants to be. He famously demolished MSNBC’s Chris Matthews during an otherwise mundane book tour and was responsible for ending CNN’s 23-year old debate show Crossfire in 2005.

The infamous “Dude” remark came after President Obama remarked “Larry Summers did a heck of a job,” citing an unintentional cultural reference to George W. Bush’s infamous praise for former FEMA Deputy Director Michael “Brownie” Brown’s handling of Hurricane Katrina.

But much like anything that comes to DC, it’s all about how the political wonks and needy are treated. Case in point: the weather was awful yesterday and (as is customary, even at their New York studio) people were kept in line outside of American University’s Harman Center. This lead to groundbreaking and enterprising reporting from the crew at Fishbowl DC, including the birth of a new hashtag: #dailyshownightmare.

If you ever wondered why people in the Beltway can’t have nice things, it’s primarily due to having to wait. No one in DC can ever wait or turn off their Blackberries without casually mentioning who they work for, who they are or complain about not being given access they so deserve. Cases in point.