The 1931 musical comedy, "Of Thee I Sing", by Ira and George Gershwin and librettists George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, is a satire commenting on American political life. It was the first musical to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize, though George was excluded from the prize because his contribution was musical, not "literary". It ran for 144 weeks, making it the longest-running musical of its decade. And, as you can see from the synopsis that follows, it's quite the spoof of American politics.
The musical concerns the presidential campaign of one John P. Wintergreen, who is running on the one-word platform "love". His campaign advisors decide that a beauty contest will be held to select "Miss White House", and that Wintergreen will marry the winner. His vice-presidential running mate is Alexander Throttlebottom, a man so peripheral to the goings-on that at first no one can remember his name; when he appears during the campaign, he is told to go away, as vice presidents are never seen in public.
At the beauty contest in Atlantic City, Wintergreen falls in love with Mary Turner, a secretary who is helping to organize the pageant, after he consumes one of her delicious corn muffins. When the beautiful Southern belle Diana Devereaux wins the contest, Wintergreen says he will not marry her, declaring instead that he loves Mary and her corn muffins. And indeed the two tie the knot at his inauguration. Diana tries to sue, but when Wintergreen asks the Supreme Court which is more important, corn muffins or justice, they decide in favour of corn muffins.
In the Oval Office, the President and First Lady each have one side of the presidential desk, and matching teams of male and female secretaries. In this scene Throttlebottom, the vice president, sees the White House for the first time as a participant on a public tour, and learns from his guide that the VP presides over the Senate; he runs off and is seen later trying to figure out what to do. After Mary outlines her plans are to feed the poor with corn muffins, the President is threatened with impeachment and even war with France if he doesn't marry Diana (Deveraux, you see? She's French), but he refuses. The presidential advisors rack their brains, and finally remember the name of the vice president, who may have to step in and fill Wintergreen’s shoes. But luckily Mary becomes pregnant, and once again, Diana's complaints of being jilted are ignored. Two babies are born, a boy and a girl; the French ambassador demands the babies, but is refused. Finally, Wintergreen hits on the brilliant idea of marrying Diana off to Throttlebottom, and they all live happily ever after.
http://www.musicalheaven.com/o/of_thee_i_sing.shtml
http://www.tiac.net/users/sloc/otis_article.html
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/s/sny42522a.html