If you haven't already, read Michael Cavna's Washington Post piece, "Comedians of Clout," a thoughtful exploration of the way comedians influence public debate about politics. His conclusion, after soliciting opinions from a slew of comedians, writers and academics, on whether "satirists affect our perceptions of the candidates: Yes, They Can. Yes, They Can." See? Cavna proves his own point, further solidifying your image of Barack Obama, right here and now.

Here are some excerpts from the comedians themselves:

Do political comics do anything besides make us titter and guffaw?

"I definitely think so," says [Bill] Maher by phone, while taking a break from finishing his satirical film "Religulous." "If someone does something twice, it becomes a reputation. Hillary becomes a congenital liar [after] all the comedians jump" -- a reference to the candidate's false claim of coming under sniper attack in Bosnia. "If they're all making the same joke, that's the danger. Then there's a solidifying effect and it becomes a truth."

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I've never felt any of us had significant influence," says the Pulitzer-winning creator of "Doonesbury" (which returns Monday after a hiatus). "For something to be funny, the audience has to be in a position to sense the truth of it. It has to be primed. Satire can crystallize what's already in the air, but it can't really put it there."

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Russell L. Peterson, an American studies professor at the University of Iowa, believes comics who refute satire's power are purposefully insincere. "But they have a good reason for being disingenuous," adds the author of "Strange Bedfellows: How Late-Night Comedy Turns Democracy Into a Joke." "Their comic license depends on them denying that."

Cavna did an impressive canvas of the landscape of political comedy for this piece. It's worthwhile simply as a survey of the Colberts, Stewarts and Mahers--what role do they see themselves playing? To my mind, we have only to look at the market for political news to see who holds sway. Where are young eyeballs going? What is the hottest talk show ticket in town for political candidates and operatives? Comedy will always require substance if it's going to be funny, but new media allow comedy to insert itself into that substance in ways never imagined (or tolerated) in the past. And that combination sticks.