By Bill O'Reilly

Let me set this up for you. I believe about 50 percent of Americans actually know what's going on in the country. People like you who watch news programs, read newspapers, listen to news talk radio. You guys understand the tempo of the country.

But unfortunately half of we the people never bother informing themselves. They form opinions based upon what they hear, what their friends say and what they see in the popular culture. So without a doubt this year's presidential race will be influenced by pop culture the question is how much?

Recent study by George Mason University in Virginia says that last year Republicans were the targets of jokes from late night comedians three times as often as Democrats. The comedians studied were Leno, Letterman and Jimmy Fallon.

There's no question that comedy writers like to tweak conservatives more than liberals.

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STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: Mitt Romney takes New Hampshire. Then out of habit fires everyone in New Hampshire.

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STEWART: It was an historic win for Romney as he became the first Republican non-incumbent to win both Iowa and New Hampshire while still having no one like him.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So now the candidates will head to South Carolina. Little known fact by the way there used to only been one Carolina until Mitt Romney's company bought it and split it up into two.

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JIMMY KIMMEL, TALK SHOW HOST: Last night Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary with 39 percent of the vote.

He said the voters of New Hampshire have spoken loud and clear and said, "Oh well this is all we have got."

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DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: And Mitt won last night, he went crazy. You don't think of Mitt Romney as going crazy but he went crazy last night. And people, insiders tell me that when they announced the thing and the polls closed and everything was fine he was the big winner -- listen to this -- he busted open a can of caffeine-free diet coke.

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JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Well, congratulations Mitt Romney, he won the New Hampshire primary last night. And it's really inspirational, wasn't it? See, this is proof that even the multimillionaire son of a multimillionaire can beat the odds and run for President of the United States.

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O'REILLY: There is no question the last time around the media gave Barack Obama a big advantage over John McCain. But truthfully there are very few media personalities that have any influence anymore.

Since Oprah left syndicated TV her clout has dropped. Late night ratings are down. "Saturday Night Live" watched by about 7 million people. And generally there is no national forum in the media anymore.

The rise of the Net, people are scattered everywhere but that doesn't change, doesn't change the likelihood that the Republican presidential contender, whoever it may be, will be vilified in the media while President Obama should get a rather soft ride.

And that's "The Memo."

"Pinheads & Patriots."

Apparently, there's a rivalry between Madonna and Lady Gaga over two hit songs.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lady Gaga has admitted to being influenced by Madonna, but when "Born This Way" sounded more than a little similar to "Express Yourself," some wondered if influence was plain-out copying?

MADONNA, POP SINGER: It feels reductive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that good?

MADONNA: Look it up.

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O'REILLY: Looks like a delightful woman, doesn't she? By the way, reductive means crude. Madonna might be a pinhead. I think we all know what that means. Look it up.

— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com.