Petrelis Files

I've been tuning in Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart because it's funny, satirizes politicians of all parties, and has tremendous influence over younger voters, many of whom are either slackers or stoners, maybe both.

While Stewart has steadfastly refused to say whether he or his show lean favorably toward Democrats or Republicans, public records from the Federal Election Commission available on the tray.com site reveal a different story.

Three writers for the Daily Show have donated a total of $1,500 to Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign, and other contributions have been made to Howard Dean's campaign and a Democratic PAC.

I believe these donations show a Democratic tilt on the part of individual writers, even though the Daily Show poke fun equally at Democrats and the GOP.

The Daily Show's viewers may not give a hoot about these donations, but it behooves Stewart and his producers to disclose the donations to the audience.

Let's hope that between now and election day that Stewart informs his audience about his writers donating to Kerry.
^^^

Javerbaum, David
6/30/2004 $750.00
New York, NY 10011
Daily Show with Jon Stewart/head wr -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC

Jacobson, Scott
4/1/2004 $250.00
Brooklyn, NY 11232
The Daily Show/Writer -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC

Regan, Chris
5/8/2004 $500.00
New York, NY 10036
The Daily Show/Writer -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC

Regan, Chris
6/25/2003 $250.00
New York, NY 10036
The Daily Show/Comedy Writer -[Contribution]
DEAN FOR AMERICA

MERCURIO, PAUL F
9/16/1999 $250.00
NEW YORK, NY 10128
DAILY SHOW -[Contribution]
DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE