MARBLEHEAD – While promoting his first book on little-known facts of American politics, Marbleheader Rich Rubino recalled repeatedly hearing the same questions.”The preponderance of the questions asked were about the funny stuff in the book,” Rubino, 36, recalled.So after writing a book on the Electoral College system that his mother even said put her to sleep, Rubino decided to focus on the lighter side of politics, and share which president called a House minority leader (and future president) someone who “played too much football with his helmet off.””I think (the humor) is a bit of a respite because politics are so polarized right now,” Rubino said Wednesday at his parents’ home in Marblehead (by the way, the answer is President Lyndon B. Johnson speaking of Gerald R. Ford). “I can go on some of the most conservative and most liberal of places, and it’s always just about the humor.””The Political Bible of Humorous Quotations from American Politics” is Rubino’s third self-published book and is available on Amazon and at The Spirit of ’76 Bookstore in Marblehead.Rubino said he has had “a congenital interest” in politics and political minutiae. He recalled his excitement when cable television arrived in Marblehead – “I watched C-SPAN a lot” – and said he has always loved learning about presidents, particularly obscure ones. Although he has worked as a political consultant and has advocated for a National Popular Vote Plan, Rubino said he sees himself as an analyst rather than a participant in politics.Perhaps because, often, politics can be pretty absurd and funny.The book covers many of the standard quote-worthy political figures – former President Calvin Coolidge utters many a deadpan quip. Former Vice-President Dan Quayle and former President George W. Bush are frequent targets for their own words as well as in the words of others. Everybody seems to hate Richard Nixon; LBJ seems to hate everybody. And everybody – from President Lincoln to reality TV star Snooki – has their opinion on politics.Rubino said he, in fact, most enjoyed finding celebrities talking about politics – from Tallulah Bankhead saying “dirt is too clean a word for him” of Nixon; to Kim Kardashian endorsing Barack Obama because “he just seemed very firm about the change, and that’s like, his motto,” while at a launch party for “Girls Gone Wild” Magazine.Rubino said he also learned a lot about how much politics is dependent on a person’s image – for better or for worse.He said LBJ presented himself in public as bland and boring, with State of the Union speeches that put you to sleep. But he said Johnson was very funny with his aides and had a lot of great insults. Dwight D. Eisenhower was also surprisingly funny, Rubino said. But while hiding their humor worked for those two presidents, Al Gore and Bob Dole played down their humor and never attained the top seat.But Rubino said the humor of politics has changed.Although Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have made careers mining contemporary politics for humor, the entertainment comes not from politicians’ wit but their absurdity.So politicians (except for Vice President Joe Biden, of course) play it safe.”Political candidates are so guarded now,” Rubino said. And he said he understands why. “At every event you go to, there’s somebody from the opposing campaign recording it, just waiting for you to make a gaffe.”Thankfully, a second career can revitalize a politicians sense of humor. Just ask former senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole if he is a test subject for Viagra.”I wish I had bought stock in it,” Dole told Larry King when asked the question on CNN, according to Rubino’s book. “Only a Republican would think the best part of Viagra is the fact that you could make money off it.”For more information about Rubino’s books and political commentary, please visit his blog on The Huffington Post or visit Amazon.com.