There was strong national political interest in the KCIR, which established specialized courts as one of a handful of possible labor policy designs for the United States. The KCIR itself came to be regarded as the key test of the model. Owing in part to Allen’s remarkable talents as a publicist, the KCIR was regularly covered in national media. Labor and business publications were guarded or overtly hostile, but the KCIR was given serious coverage in magazines of progressive opinion, and friendly and extensive coverage in major newspapers like The New York Times. By the time of the 1920 Republican National Convention, a firm majority of notable Republicans favored using the KCIR model in at least some industries. In 1921 and 1922, President Harding called upon Congress to create a federal industrial court system. However, the factionalized Republican Congress and the fractious Harding Administration were unable to pursue any coherent model of labor policy reform. Most state legislatures introduced bills modelled on the KCIR; leaders in several states were eager to try the model, but opted to await the resolution of legal questions.

Chapter Eight turns to what became a growing preoccupation for Rogers in the 1920s: politics. In his journalistic writing and live appearances, the humorist’s habitual survey of current events and public issues increasingly focused on the tendencies and foibles of American political life. He especially took aim at the pretension, dissembling, selfishness, and pomposity of both political parties and delighted in skewering Congress and various president’s for ineffective or foolish policies. He often described politics as "bunk." Rogers covered Republican and Democratic conventions, interviewed Presidents Harding and Coolidge, and spoke frequently with influential figures such as Bernard Baruch and Al Smith. Throughout, he stood squarely in the tradition of American populism, upholding the interests of average citizens and criticizing the privileges of social and economic elites. Rogers’ own political reputation peaked in 1928, when he was convinced to run a tongue-in-cheek campaign for the presidency.