May 4, 2007 11:20 PM

In Iowa, tenacity is O. Kay

Note to politicians: if you're going to make dozens of speeches in Iowa, try to mix up your comedy routines so you don't bore the professional hecklers.

Democratic contender Sen. Chris Dodd learned that lesson on his latest trip to Des Moines on Thursday.

You see, it's hard for any of the presidential contenders to sneak into town without bumping into O. Kay Henderson, the news director for RadioIowa. If you don't think she has a sense of humor, then you haven't read her blog riffs about the strange smells that took over the Iowa State Capitol last week, just as the legislative session wound down.

But since O. Kay has heard all the presidential jokes before, she alone constitutes a "tough crowd."

Last week, she launched a full-fledged investigation (of the Des Moines phone book) when, yet again, she heard Dodd, a 62-year-old father of two young children, trot out his old laugh line about getting calls from AARP and diaper services.

The full expose is a must read: click HERE.

Here's the way O. Kay reported it:

I just listened back to the tape and Dodd sort of raced through the joke, and I didn't hear any laughter. Checking the Des Moines phone book, there are no diaper services listed. I called directory information, and didn't find one that way, either. I called two laundry services in Des Moines and neither of the people who answered the phone had ever heard of being asked to launder cloth diapers.

As Dodd was walking out of the restaurant ... I began asking about the joke.

"You always tell that joke about the AARP and diaper services," I started.

"They hadn't heard it," Dodd quickly interrupted, referencing his noon-time audience.

"But I'm wondering how a guy tells a joke like that, obviously exhibiting that he has the coin for a diaper service, and how he squares that with his discussion of how the middle class is being pinched," I continued.

"It was a joke," Dodd said. He laughed and walked away.

So that's why they say, in Iowa, tenacity is O. Kay. Tired jokes? Not so much.

Posted by M.E. Sprengelmeyer at 11:20 PM | Comments (1)