For someone who has spent the better part of five months watching the late-night comedians for the Morning Report (they've been on reruns lately), this new study from Center for Media and Public Affairs isn't that surprising. Between Jan. 1 and July 31 the study found:

[T]he network shows broadcast only 169 jokes about Obama, compared with 428 about Bush. McCain drew 328 jokes. Hillary Clinton, who dropped out of the presidential race and much political news in early June, still drew more than twice as many attempted yuk lines (382) as Obama.

On Comedy Central, Obama and McCain were close, with 207 and 201, respectively, while Clinton and Bush nearly tied at 179 and 177, respectively.

The ongoing joke with McCain of course is about his age. But for Obama, to perhaps defend the late-night comic writer for a moment, jokes about him don't seem to resonate as well. Jay Leno recently did a hilarious take on the hit musical Mama Mia by changing the lyrics to Obama-mia, but even that was more about the media's adoration of Obama than the candidate himself.

I do recall a telling moment on Jon Stewart's show not so long ago. Stewart, who is definitely the most blatantly partisan of the late-night comics, had just finished a riff on Obama to a less than enthusiastic audience reception.

Quoting from memory, Stewart says,"It's OK to laugh at him, you know?" Considering Stewart's politics, his audience is likely made-up mainly of liberals, who perhaps aren't ready to laugh at the Obama campaign's occasional lapses into self-aggrandizement. (Presidential seal, anyone?) It's just easier to laugh at McCain's age, I guess.