Sesame Street to Obama: Take Down Big Bird Ad

Mitt Romney knows who America's real economic scourge is, and he's big and yellow. A cheeky new Obama campaign ad pokes fun at Mitt Romney's attack on Big Bird and PBS at the debate by labeling the children's icon an "evil genius who towered over" other financial criminals. "Mitt Romney: taking on our enemies, no matter where they nest," the voiceover declares. Though the campaign calls the ad a TV spot, so far it appears to be online only, notes Politico. Sesame Street isn't laughing, and has issued a statement saying that it never endorses political candidates, and that it has asked the campaign to take the ad down.

Big Bird continues to be a hot topic, and last night's Daily Show reimagined Grover as an icon of the far-right. After ridiculing Lou Dobbs' attack on the $8 million in federal funding for Sesame Street, Jon Stewart joined correspondents in puppet form to discuss how the kids' show could stop being the liberal indoctrination machine conservatives have been attacking. The show offered a clip of Grover asking a little girl about sharing food: Doing so clearly creates a culture of dependency, the blue monster warns. "Did you not read that copy of Atlas Shrugged I loaned you?" (More The Daily Show stories.)