BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- As the days to the election tick by, Comedy Central's comically and politically charged "The Daily Show" continues to garner attention. The show set a ratings record Oct. 8 when Michelle Obama was a guest, drawing 2.9 million viewers.

While host Jon Stewart is the ringmaster, the show's correspondents and contributors also make their mark, including writer/comedian Larry Wilmore, the show's "senior black correspondent."

Earlier this month, Wilmore offered a satirical commentary suggesting that U.S. Sen. John McCain is more of a black candidate than U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

"I just want the black guy to win, I don't care which one it is," Wilmore said.

"Obama is the black guy," Stewart noted.

"I'm not so sure," Wilmore countered. "For one thing Obama is winning, that's not very black. McCain's been showing me some flava lately. He's angry at the man, thinks the media's out to get him. Which of the candidates has been doing this job for 26 years, waiting to get a promotion and then some inexperienced Harvard egghead comes in and snaps it up? Oh yeah, I think McCain is feeling pretty black right about now."

He also noted that McCain has been in prison ("That's street cred") and suspended his campaign at the start of the financial crisis ("Not showing up at work for two days? That is straight-up ghetto!").

Wilmore was previously a consulting producer and guest star on "The Office" and an executive producer on "The P.J.s" and "The Bernie Mac Show." He's also worked as a stand-up comedian, and in July he was developing a political comedy he's writing for HBO.

"I play an Obama-like character running for president," he said. "It deals with, am I black enough? How black do I need to be? How much black is enough? It's called 'Primarily Colored.' "

He's also written a book, "I'd Rather We Got Casinos and Other Black Thoughts," due to be published in February.

"It's as if someone had collected my black thoughts and placed them in a book," Wilmore said. "It's a completely silly and politically incorrect take on everything in my cultural spectrum."

Wilmore lives in Los Angeles but commutes to New York to appear on "The Daily Show" a few times each month. He began on the program in August 2006 as a way to get himself back in front of an audience and sharpen his performance skills. The election and the possibility of an Obama campaign wasn't part of his motivation.

Now that he's been at it a while, Wilmore said his approach is to watch the news and react to it. Sometimes he'll pitch an idea, other times the show's writers suggest a topic. Whoever comes up with it, Wilmore's take is often politically incorrect.

"I think 'The Daily Show,' because of Jon Stewart, is seen as a really smart take on the news, so he can get away with whatever because of that," he said.

Wilmore has also been interviewed for an overview of American comedy, "Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America," premiering Jan. 14 on PBS.

"I'm personally looking forward to the part where the dramatic actors like Morgan Freeman read the letters of the crazy comedians," Wilmore joked during a PBS news conference in July. " 'Today, I took cocaine and lit myself on fire. Richard Pryor, 1980.' 'Today, I was committed to an insane asylum. Jonathan Winters, date uncertain.' "