Foreign Policy

Conan O’Brien May Have Affected Finnish Election

February 14, 2006 ⋅  E-Mail Article ⋅  Print Article ⋅ Post a comment

If you are like me, you appreciate a good comedian; he is both crafty and intelligent. Conan O’Brien is one such comedian that many enjoy. However, there are some political candidates in Finland who feel Conan’s recent actions are not so hilarious.

Finland’s president has found herself square in the sights of Conan O’Brien’s humor, a few times a week Conan can be found mocking the President of Finland in opening monologues, or skits. Why is she the target of Conan? She is not very newsworthy most of the days. She is not even followed by her own paparazzi in Finland, so what is the hook? The hook is that Conan feels like the female President of Finland is an almost exact duplicate of him. And he has exploited this angle for some hilarious skits.

The Late Night with Conan O’Brien shows air during the week on SUBTV, a Finnish cable channel. Conan’s Presidential skits are covered thoroughly in tabloid reports in Finland whenever they air. Many feel this type of coverage, and association, gave the President an unfair pop in the polls.

Conan O’Brien has been promoting President Tarja Halonen’s re-election bid as part of a long-running gag, which started because of the apparent physical similarities between the two.

Conan was asked by an AP reporter why he stands behind the re-election of the President, he stated,” Because she’s got the total package: a dynamic personality, a quick mind, and most importantly — my good looks.”

President Halonen faced an election run-off on January 29. Although the President is vastly popular, many felt it would be a close election. However, the President won out easily and many feel O’Briens’ influence helped out.

Halonen’s campaign promptly took advantage of the issue by running legitimate campaign ads on SUBTV just before the O’Brien Late Night show aired on Finnish TV.

The campaign manager for the President has advised that the campaign Web site traffic has grown tenfold since the O’Brien skits began showing.

Some of the skits featuring O’Brien, acting as the Finnish female President, are considered hilarious. However, President Halonen’s opponents were not amused.

The campaign manager for Sauli Niinisto stated prior to the election that, “He’s just making fun of the whole election… If this decides the election, then we’re in trouble. It gives a very poor picture of Finnish democracy.”

The Finnish say they take no offense at the jokes, and neither does the President. Conan has advised he will be attempting to do some remote shows from Finland, he hopes to meet the President and offer his congratulations stating he hopes all goes well for the President.

All in all, Conan is just in it for the laughs, many don’t believe he has any real interest in the politics of Finland; he just likes a good joke and a hearty laugh. Who doesn’t?

Conan Lands In Finland

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