Cartman and Bart: Fans of the Underdog

After watching the South Park episode I came away with a basic message, every time we choose to vote for an elected official we are choosing between the better of two terrible things, as South Park’s writers said so well a “Giant Douche” and a “Turd Sandwich”. Even still, as Stan learned the hard way, we still should feel an obligation to vote.

The Simpson’s had a basic message as well, politicians are frequently corrupt (as shown by the forged voting by Sideshow Bob) and Homer presents an example of the kind of accusations thrown at Obama voters this election, , that they didn’t vote for their candidate based on policies, but rather on what made them happy, but we know this isn't the only time Homer has trouble voting:



Ok, so there’s your (VERY!) quick summary of the episodes. However, I think there was a common message the two different TV shows were trying to present, the media frenzy that surrounds the front-runner and the downfall of the underdog. Cartman and Butters supported the “Turd Sandwich” Underdog and Homer supported Mayor Quimby. While they supported their candidates for very different reasons (Cartman supported his own “creation” and Homer’s arch-enemy, Sideshow Bob running against Mayor Quimby), the message that their support for the underdog creates is the same, the fanfare surrounding the front runner is comedic in nature in how it belittles the underdog.

This is first portrayed in the Simpsons with the Mayor Quimby and sideshow Bob. Once Sideshow Bob is clearly being portrayed as the front-runner, he can almost do no wrong. He is a known criminal yet it doesn’t stop the rest of Springfield from jumping on the bandwagon. Mayor Quimby is made to look dumb in the debate, (ala Nixonesque). Even one of his own ads makes him look dumb (Yes, perhaps he ran a bad campaign but I'm trying to establish as connection between the Simpsons election episode and South Park):

Singers: Without a Mayor Quimby, our town would really sink,
         [a garbage truck with a "Vote Quimby" ad empties a bin]
        We wouldn't have a tire yard, or a mid-size roller rink.
         [Quimby grins next to burning tires, then roller skates]
        We wouldn't have our gallows, or our shiny Bigfoot trap,
         [Quimby grins through noose, then smiles next to trap]
        It's not the mayor's fault that the stadium collapsed.
         [Quimby surveys damage sadly, then shrugs and smiles]
 Voice: Quimby.  If you were running for mayor, he'd vote for you.
        Paid for by the "Mayor Quimby for Mayor" Mayoral Committee.
-- A campaign ad for Diamond Joe, "Sideshow Bob Roberts"

In South Park this power of the front-runner is a bit tougher to spot. I'm going to assume the front-runner is "Giant Douche" because of the significant margin of victory. The episode portrays the difficulties Cartman faces in his door to door campaigning. He even had to give two butterscotch candies just to keep one characters attention. It seems ironic that when the results were announced, they said that the numbers were close, despite the fact the "Giant Douche" won by a significant amount of votes. This I think displays the cynicism that the media frequently displays in landslide election results. The media portrayed Obama as the frontrunner until the finals moments before the election and especially on the day of. If everyone knew who was going to win, no one would watch their programs.

I know this argument may not be the strongest, but I am trying to call attention to the advantages that a front-runner receives. Both from the voting public and especially for our studies, the media. I want to pose a question for discussion based on some of the ideas discussed here: does a front runner receive additional positive media coverage because of his front-runner status and how does this effect election coverage?