This past summer, when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry announced that he had selected John Edwards to be his running mate, responses were drafted from politicians on both sides of the aisle. While the Bush camp addressed the challenge posed by their opponent’s vice-presidential candidate, and Democrats whom Kerry had considered were drafting statements of their own, expressing support for the Senator’s choice, The Capitol Steps were working on a different sort of response.
Following their signature approach of covering a popular song that also contains the “core joke,” the Washington, D.C.-based political comedy troupe created a politically inspired version of the West Side Story song “I Feel Pretty,” parodying John Edwards’ much-discussed aesthetic appeal.
In an election year when political satire has become as trendy as politics itself, The Capitol Steps have quietly parodied this year’s salient issues and the personality traits of the presidential candidates in song.
The troupe started in December 1981, when a group of Senate staffers decided to abandon the nativity play they were planning to stage and instead put on a number of parodies and skits centered on major political issues. Co-founder Elaina Newport says that the group had modest ambitions when they first started out, admitting, “We didn’t know how long this would last, and we were just hoping that we wouldn’t get fired by our bosses.”
Newport notes that the Capitol Hill experience shared by both the group’s founders and many of its newer members gave them an inside perspective on politics, for better or for worse. “I think [our experience] made it clear that we were laughing at ourselves. We weren’t solving the problems, but we were laughing about them,” she says. “We had to be careful early on about not doing things that were too inside. You know, if we were working on a particular bill or amendment... we couldn’t do a song about that.”
This election year, The Capitol Steps have written lyrics focusing on the Republican tax cuts, Martha Stewart, high gas prices and the war in Iraq. Moreover, Newport argues that increasing interest in the election has allowed the group to focus on more subtle issues.
“I think people being so passionate about it this year has really helped because they’ve been so focused on details in the campaign,” Newport says. “We’ve been able to do songs about the debates, and we wouldn’t have been able to do that if people weren’t watching them.”
In addition to the candidates’ recent exchanges, The Capitol Steps have parodied Kerry’s loquaciousness, and more noticeably, his tendency to change his position on issues. The group has also joked about George W. Bush’s intelligence, playing off the fact that “people have been willing to accept the premise that he’s not very bright.” In one particular song, “Ain’t No Surplus Now It’s Gone,” the group satirizes Bush’s attitude about the dwindling surplus, comparing his response to that of someone who’s misplaced his car keys, and allowing the song to end with the president mentioning that he’s “saved a lot of money on his car insurance.”
While Newport acknowledges that some subjects simply aren’t funny, she says that for “even the most unfunny subject, we’ll try to cover [it] by going after the politicians that are involved.” For instance, The Capitol Steps have covered the war in Iraq with songs about Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein. Newport suggests that this sort of broad focus has allowed the group to remain so successful.
“People are very willing to laugh at Washington, and we’re covering national topics,” she offers. Newport also claims that the group has received a favorable response from all five U.S. presidents they have performed for, suggesting that even those within Washington are willing to laugh at a bit of satire.
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