This election is fast becoming a big joke, but I for one am not surprised.

In many ways, political comedy has replaced the traditional news media as voters’ main source of information about issues and candidates. Just look at The Daily Show phenomenon: Millions of young people are turning off the Dan Rathers, Wolf Blitzers and Anderson Coopers in favor of jokes and righteous indignation masked as news.

And in the ratings race, real news sources are losing. Radio host Rush Limbaugh, whose show features irreverent song parodies and comic impersonations, has over 20 million daily listeners; that’s more listeners than the big three network news broadcasts have viewers.

Even cable news giant CNN recently handed a young stand up comedian named D. L. Hughley his very own Saturday night show, touted as yet another televised blend of news and entertainment.

We’ve come a long way from the 1960s, when stand up comic Mort Sahl carried a lowly newspaper out on stage as a prop. Such low-tech conceits now seem quaint. Yet The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart still belongs to that long tradition of Jewish political satirists that includes Sahl and Lenny Bruce.

There is something very Jewish about grappling with the discrepancies of power, which is exactly what satire is all about. Jews have a history of wrestling with higher authorities. Ever since Jacob wrestled with the angel, battling earthly and heavenly powers has been at the core of Jewish identity. The Talmud itself is more a book about arguments than answers, dissecting every aspect of Jewish law, belief, philosophy and tradition.

Okay, it’s not as if Jon Stewart or his writers study Talmud between shows. But this tradition of intellectual inquiry has clearly filtered down to Jewish comedians, as has the habit of greeting adversity with bitter humor. Back in the “old country,” Jewish humor critiqued the shortcomings and absurdities of Russian rulers, first the Czar and then the Soviet government. As perennial “outsiders,” Jews possessed a unique perspective that made them natural-born comedians.

In a reversal of roles, a real liberal commentator is staging an honest-to-goodness campaign for a Minnesota Senate seat, and he’s made some inroads (and plenty of enemies). Former Saturday Night Live writer-turned-Democratic candidate Al Franken has been dogged by controversy regarding his personal finances and explosive temper. At a particular low point that sounds like a sketch he might have written, only one voter showed up for Franken’s roundtable on veterans’ issues. To his credit, Franken gamely sat down for a one-on-one chat with the fellow. Polls show him currently running tied with his incumbent Republican opponent.

Speaking of Saturday Night Live, that show is enjoying its best ratings in years thanks to Tina Fey’s eerily accurate impersonations of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. A Montreal newspaper even ran a serious story about Palin — accompanied by a photo of Fey in full makeup — without realizing its mistake.

Turning to the Internet, comedian Sarah Silverman has launched a campaign of her own — complete with merchandise — called “The Great Schlep.” This tongue-in-cheek effort is aimed at getting Jewish grandchildren to visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Obama, and thereby swing the crucial Florida vote in his favor.

Not everyone was amused. John McCain supporter and veteran standup comic Jackie Mason countered with a video response to Silverman’s “Schlep” campaign. Mason, of all people, didn’t seem to “get” that Silverman was mocking Jewish voting habits and familial relations as much as she was endorsing the Democratic candidate. And he didn’t seem to see the irony of a man his age scolding a young woman for trying to tell her grandparents how to vote.

Expect to see even more comedic endorsements and putdowns as the presidential campaign heads into its final stretch. However, it will be difficult to top Sarah Palin’s appearance as herself on SNL’s Oct. 18 episode. Few incidents demonstrate the non-existent line between news and entertainment as that very “meta,” post-modern 90 minutes. At one point, host Alec Baldwin called Palin “that horrible woman,” pretending the candidate was not standing right beside him. Palin responded that her “favorite Baldwin brother” was Alec’s conservative Christian sibling, Stephen.

With that, a new bar was set and future presidential and vice-presidential candidates will likely be expected to take their turn on SNL and other programs. The very notion seems like satire come to life, but that’s 21st century comedy — and politics — for you.