Jon Stewart Hands Vote To Kerry

(CBS MarketWatch)  Saying "it looks like Kerry," Comedy Central host Jon Stewart said he expects to vote for Sen. John Kerry for president.

"I'd be stunned if something happened to change my mind," said the host of the popular TV show.

Stewart spoke with New Yorker media critic Ken Auletta at a breakfast sponsored by the magazine and by the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

While saying that President Bush is a "decent" man, Stewart lampooned him for saying during a presidential debate that he couldn't name one of his mistakes.

"He can't think of one?" Stewart asked. "I got a list."

Stewart entertained an overflow audience Thursday morning at the Bryant Park Grill in New York. Wearing a casual black sweater, Stewart flashed the characteristic, understated wit that has amused viewers nightly and catapulted him to fame.

He has been on the covers of such magazines as Newsweek and Rolling Stone, and his new book, "America" tops best-seller lists.

Commenting on the third and final Bush-Kerry debate, Stewart said "both men took rhetoric to another level. I was truly blown away."

He said the president's performance was memorable this time, noting: "He wasn't angry Bush from the second debate or retarded Bush from the first debate."

He said Kerry's attempts to project a "hip" image amused him as well. Stewart said he almost expected Kerry to ask at some point: "Did anybody see 'The O.C.' last night'?

Even when Stewart was zinging pompous public figures, he showed a tinge of respect and even compassion for the plight of such successful and highly public figures. There was no meanness in his comic arsenal -- simply stinging wit and very funny observations.

Stewart might have been a bit disappointed by Kerry's performance in the third debate, held in Tempe, Ariz. "Kerry could've ended it last night -- but didn't," Stewart said.

Stewart's observations might not be any different from what you might hear at you office water cooler, but he has influence on viewers -- especially young people -- and critics like to write that many of them get their "news" each day from "The Daily Show."

"The Daily Show" airs on Comedy Central. [Comedy Central and CBS are both owned by Viacom.]

Commenting on the debates, Stewart said his "favorite" part was observing Bush's "exasperation" with many of Kerry's comments and allegations about his record in the White House.

Stewart said Bush's occasionally pained look seemed to be asking: "Is he allowed to bring up the war?"

Stewart didn't spare himself from his good-natured insults, either. When Auletta began to discuss how New York Times reporter Judith Miller is being held in contempt. Stewart joked: "As someone who is held in contempt by most of the country, it's not that bad."