{"id":4505,"date":"2012-04-24T12:30:04","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T16:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/W3\/?p=4505"},"modified":"2012-04-24T12:30:04","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T16:30:04","slug":"primary-quip-leads-to-tv-gig-for-lawmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/primary-quip-leads-to-tv-gig-for-lawmaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Primary quip leads to TV gig for lawmaker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

‘Daily Show’ recruits Hardwick for sketch<\/h2>\n

After County Legislator Kevin R. Hardwick supplied one of his trademark pithy comments to the Politics Column of The Buffalo News on April 15 \u2014 the one about today\u2019s New York Republican primary amounting to a big nothing after Mitt Romney all but wrapped up the nomination \u2014 he thought that was the end of it.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the end of it after producers of Comedy Central\u2019s \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d read the column. The wildly popular show flew Hardwick to New York City, where he spent all of Sunday filming a sketch fantasizing about what would happen if a New York State primary really did matter.<\/p>\n

The result is one of\u00a0 those crazy \u201cDaily Show\u201d skits starring Samantha Bee, John Oliver and a host of other regulars on the show \u2014 as well as the City of Tonawanda Republican who is also an associate professor of political science at Canisius College. And it all stemmed from Hardwick\u2019s quote in The News ( \u201cIt\u2019s like being next in line for concert tickets when the ticket window closes\u201d) bemoaning New York\u2019s also-ran status in the primaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey saw the quote, and last Wednesday the producer called and said I was their guy,\u201d Hardwick said Monday. \u201cThey didn\u2019t want an actor; they wanted somebody who actually felt these things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about how it\u2019s not fair and not right that New York \u2014 the third-largest state in the country and not some little Iowa \u2014 doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he added. \u201cThat, in a humorous way, is the point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, today\u2019s primary at one point in the campaign season potentially loomed as an extremely big deal. That\u2019s back when GOP hopefuls Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were showing real signs of knocking off the front-running<\/p>\n

Romney. But as both cooled and their prospects dimmed, so did the importance of the Republican primary in a major state like New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere certainly is the expectation that people might not come out,\u201d Erie County Republican Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy said Monday. \u201cSave for Newt Gingrich visiting here on Friday, people are now focused on the general election.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for Hardwick, a Santorum supporter, the \u201cWho cares?\u201d status of today\u2019s primary turned out to be the experience of a lifetime. The show housed him in a Manhattan hotel Saturday night, then early on Sunday morning the cast kicked off 13 hours of filming in \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d studios, a midtown diner and a YMCA visit at West 63rd Street and Central Park West.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about me wishing \u2014 like Jimmy Stewart in \u2018It\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u2019 \u2014 that New York mattered,\u201d Hardwick said, explaining the sketch is built around a similar fantasy. After he gets his wish, a far different scenario ensues on Primary Day than the shrugged shoulders of most Republicans today.<\/p>\n

Soledad O\u2019Brien gets in on the act, he said, as the CNN anchor took part in Sunday\u2019s filming, too. And what follows includes the typical edgy look at national politics featured each night on \u201cThe Daily Show.\u201d Watch for \u201cNaked Gun\u201d type sight gags, frenzied parodies of New York\u2019s zealous press corps, and an \u201cover the top\u201d takeoff on the negative ads that \u201cmight have been,\u201d Hardwick said.<\/p>\n

The professor added he got kind of caught up in the moment, and began ad libbing his own one-liners he\u2019s so often rattled off on the floor of the Legislature or on the political radio show he once hosted on WBEN. That\u2019s when \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d producers explained a few things to their new star.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took me aside and said: \u2018Listen, don\u2019t try to be funny,\u2019 \u201d he admitted. \u201cThat was a little humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show is slated to air at 11 p.m. today, and again at 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday. Hardwick acknowledges his role as \u201cDaily Show\u201d straight man provided him with a big time thrill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really was a dream come true,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And for the record, the Republican presidential primary does, indeed, take place today. All regular polling places in Erie County are open, according to the Board of Elections. Polls will be open in Erie County from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and from noon to 9 p.m. in all other upstate counties.<\/p>\n

By\u00a0Robert J. McCarthy<\/strong><\/p>\n

News Political Reporter<\/p>\n

Published:April 24, 2012, 12:00 AM<\/p>\n

BuffaloNews.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Daily Show’ recruits Hardwick for sketch After County Legislator Kevin R. Hardwick supplied one of his trademark pithy comments to the Politics Column of The Buffalo News on April 15 … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2037],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4505"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1001harf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}