When Jay Leno left The Tonight Show (again) in February, conservative media was not exactly pleased.

The thought processâmasked in an argument for NBC not to remove its top-rated host in total audience and the key demoâwas that late night had lost the only destination where Republicans could humanize themselves, show off their sense of humor and help shatter the portrayal of being stuffy, insensitive white guys who only exist to help the rich get richer. The common perspective was Leno was the anti-Letterman/Stewart/Colbert and the only host to make jokes at President Obamaâs expense on a nightly basis. And given how openly supportive all of the aforementioned hosts are of a progressive platform (Kimmel seems apolitical at best), that viewpoint held some merit.
When Jimmy Fallon took over six weeks ago, the fear was he would join the chorus and pick a sideâone that skews younger and more liberalâthereby closing the only avenue conservative politicians trust to appear on in the late night realm. But Fallon and those advising him are far too savvy and smart for that line of thinking. The new Tonight Show hostâwho has gotten off to as good a start as anyone could have imaginedâhas embraced the Johnny Carson mantra of being an equal opportunity offender in an effort to not potentially alienate half his audience.
As you may have noticed, the country is more polarized than ever. Say what you will about Mitt Romneyâs infamous 47 percent comment; it couldnât have been more accurate. No Presidential candidate will ever get more than 53 percent of the vote again. Battle lines have been drawn (partially thanks to cable news becoming more opinion than actual news) and the number of true independent voters is shrinking.
The proof of Fallonâs strategy lies is in the guests heâs booked on the program lately: Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney. And each wasnât there for the usual interview, but to actually perform in the variety/sketch aspect of the show that separates the host from his competitors.
Palinâs appearance last week was particularly surprising: Here we had Fallon in the role of an invasion-happy Vladimir Putin and Palin as a tough-talking âgrizzly mama.â When all was said and done, Americaâs most polarizing female figure came across as likable, funny and talented (even playing the flute in a duet with âPutinâ on the Ukulele). As for the script for the sketch, it miraculously walked the line of being hilarious without being offensive to anyone:
Putin/Fallon in a bad Russian accent: "I heard back in 2008, you predicted I would invade Ukraine. Is that true?"
"You betcha, Vlad," replies Palin.
She then warns Russia to leave Ukraine alone, to which âPutinâ replies, "Whoa, hey Capt. Buzzkill!"
And later in the skit: "You shoot bear? I prefer hand-to-hand combat," says "Putin."
"Well, that's why everyone calls you such a strong leader," replies Palin.
"I come from strong genes. President Obama, he comes from mom jeans!" he answers, borrowing the last line from Palinâs most recent personal pot-shot at the President.
I asked some left-leaning friends of mine what they thought of the skit upon sending them a YouTube link (already viewed over 1.3 million times): All responded similarly along the lines of, âIâm NO fan of Palin, but that was pretty funny.â One even said, âI forgot I hated her for a few minutes.â
The appearance was in stark contrast to Lettermanâs take on the former Alaska governor, who once referred to Palin as having the style of a âslutty flight attendantâ while joking her (then) 14-year-old daughter (Willow) had been âknocked up by Alex Rodriguez.â
In the endâand especially after the Fallon clips go viral, and they all doâeach of the sketches from Palin to Romney to Obama (both men âslow-jammingâ the news with the host as a white Barry White) all made everyoneâthe guests, the hostâlook good. Best part: Snark and political cheap shots werenât needed to make all three entertaining and engaging.
Moving forward, other politicians and their communication advisorsâparticularly on the Republican sideâwill see Fallon as unbiased, and therefore will absolutely come running when the 2016 presidential primaries are in full swing. From Hillary to Rand to Jeb to Joe, all will tap the personal likability benefits Fallon and his writers uniquely provide.
In conservative media, Jay Leno was practically seen as an honorary member of the GOP. But what Jimmy Fallon has accomplished in terms of political perception is nothing short of amazing: Being embraced by members of both parties as a non-political, non-partisan host who can make even the most polarizing politician appealingâfunny, in some casesâeven to his or her biggest detractors.