a-new-debate-format
Explanation
The Joke
Two people are discussing whether to watch the candidates "touch the butt" tonight, which is described as a new debate format. The premise is that people do not watch traditional debates because they just look up quotes on Wikipedia afterward, and if they do watch, they spend the whole time hoping someone accidentally says something mean or stupid.
Recognizing this, networks have simplified the format: candidates spend two hours putting their hands in little boxes while wearing blindfolds. One of the boxes contains a butt. If a candidate reaches into that box, they have "butt-touched" and are punished with a major drop in national polls, because it shows poor judgment and a predisposition toward inappropriate behavior. The final panel shows a media commentator saying this format has gotten worse and that she no longer understands the attention being given to it.
The Humor
The comic satirizes the state of political debates and media coverage by taking the absurdity to its logical extreme. The observation that viewers only watch debates hoping for gaffes or scandals is pushed to a conclusion where the entire debate is replaced by a game designed to produce nothing but gaffes. The "butt-touching" format is a parody of how political discourse has been reduced to gotcha moments and scandal -- the actual policy content has been stripped away entirely, leaving only the spectacle of potential humiliation. The media commentator"s dismay at the end mirrors real-world frustrations with the degradation of political discourse.
References
This comic was published on September 28, 2016, during the 2016 U.S. presidential election cycle, when the presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were dominating media coverage. The debates were widely criticized for focusing more on personal attacks and scandalous moments than substantive policy discussion.