D'oh-Bama

By Brian Stelter
October 2, 2008
The Caucus - The New York Times Politics Blog


Even Homer Simpson is a partisan now.

In an episode scheduled to premiere on Nov. 2, two days before the presidential election, Mr. Simpson, the dim-witted star of the animated comedy “The Simpsons,” tries to vote for Barack Obama.

In the 20 years that “The Simpsons” has appeared on Fox, politics has frequently been a subject on the show. Homer Simpson has campaigned for candidates — including Ralph Wiggum, a second-grader, and his boss Mr. Burns — and has even run for elected office himself. Former presidents have even made “guest appearances.” But this is Homer’s first vote in a presidential general election.



“It’s time for a change,” the character tells an electronic voting machine. But, in a humorous take on the allegations of voter fraud that have occurred in prior elections, the machine records the vote (multiple votes, actually) for John McCain, then tries to swallow Homer when he disagrees.

“This doesn’t happen in America,” the character exclaims. “Maybe Ohio, but not in America!”

The scene emerged on the Internet this week, leading some Web sites to take it as a political endorsement. But the program said it isn’t trying to make a political statement. “We’re clowns at the fringe of the party,” Jim Brooks, an executive producer of “The Simpsons,” said at a telephone interview Thursday.

So what are viewers to make of the voting scene and the Web reaction? “Let it be a Rorschach test,” Mr. Brooks said.

Some viewers didn’t laugh at the clip. A blogger for NewsBusters, a conservative site that monitors the media, criticized the show’s attitude that only Republicans engage in “vote fraud when the Democrats perpetrate such activity on a mass scale.” (Perhaps Peter Griffin, the heavy-set star of “Family Guy,” will vote for Mr. McCain.)

“We try to satirize society,” Al Jean, a writer on the show, said. “I think there are people — not everyone — who believe that the voting process, especially with electronic voting machines, is suspect, so that’s what we’re satirizing.”

The video was posted Monday on YouTube by a user named “deebold08,” perhaps a play on the name Diebold, which was once the name of a leading provider of voting machines. Was the anonymous person who uploaded the clip trying to highlight voter fraud allegations, or perhaps trying to criticize Homer’s endorsement? Mr. Brooks doesn’t know. But, he said, “it’s not a bad promo for our Halloween show.”