The Associated Press

ASPEN, Colo. - Some left-leaning political humorists may be secretly hoping President Bush -- whom they love to make fun of -- is re-elected, but they say plenty of Demo- crats are good for a laugh, too.

Bush, whose tough-guy swagger and linguistic miscues have provided plenty of fodder, is the "gold standard" for the business, Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau said. "I'd be crushed if he lost," he said Saturday during a panel discussion at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

But good material abounds, panelists said.

"John Kerry is so stiff," Time magazine's White House correspondent Matthew Cooper said during a seminar called Who's Funnier -- the Left or the Right? "You sort of see him sitting at home with a powdered wig watching C-SPAN. For John Kerry, being rebellious is having red wine with fish."

Comedy has become increasingly important for politicians. A survey by the Pew Research Center in January found that 21 percent of Americans age 18 to 29 regularly learn something about the presidential campaign or the candidates from TV comedy shows.

Starman from the album The Best Of David Bowie by Bowie, David (released 1971)