Dobbs was more Bill Maher than Jon Stewart

One thing that puzzles me is the numerous reviews that claim Dobbs was based on Jon Stewart. I thought he seemed a lot more like Bill Maher. Stewart has always been a far more mainstream figure than Maher, who thrives on being controversial and iconoclastic. Maher is also much more of a critic of the two-party system; while liberal-leaning, he has adopted some fairly right-wing positions (such as supporting racial profiling), and he hasn't always endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee. (He backed Nader in 2000 and claims to have voted for Bob Dole in 1996.) Furthermore, his show, like Dobbs', is centered very heavily on his own opinions and his own peculiar view of the world--much more than The Daily Show ever was for Stewart.

Truth be told, I'd have an easier time imagining Maher actually running for office than Stewart. I could sort of see Stewart doing a joke run (like Stephen Colbert briefly did in 2008), but if Maher did it, it would be at least halfway serious--just like Dobbs in the movie. And I suspect he'd also be much more likely to run as an independent.

Where did this notion of Dobbs as a fictional version of Stewart come from? Is it mentioned in the press material for the film? In the film itself, both Stewart's and Maher's names are mentioned together with Dobbs, so it can't have been far from the filmmakers' minds, yet I don't believe I've heard anyone suggest Maher as even part of the inspiration for the character, even though the similarities seem obvious to me. Is it because Maher is such a strange and erratic figure that people feel more comfortable talking about Stewart? Or is it because Stewart is simply better known and more popular, as the guy who has dominated political comedy for the last couple of decades? I couldn't say for sure, but I definitely think it's an oversight.