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 The election is nearing the end, and voters are frantically trying to determine whether or not they have made the right choice for their country.
There are still undecided voters who are easily influenced by the media coverage of both presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Watching them participate in debates can appear sufficient; that is, until the summarization shows up on the television and radio the next day. Not all summaries are shown in a serious light, and this is how the biggest comeback in network history has made it into the spotlight.Saturday Night Live took advantage of this election because of the fantastic stories the “characters” (candidates) have brought with them. The show has been granted several prime-time airings and has earned its highest rating in 14 years. The money-maker has proven to be Sarah Palin, played by Tina Fey. With their striking similarity in appearance and the spot-on Alaskan accent, viewers feel like they are truly watching the horror that could take the presidency after McCain’s death (which may not be too far off in the future). One of the favorite quotes of the skit is Palin (Fey) warding off questions by retaliating with how “mavericky” her and McCain would be in office. Also, during her depiction of the Katie Couric interview, she requests, “Katie, I’d like to use one of my lifelines.” SNL also aired a press conference with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin side-by-side. Movie director David Zucker was pleased with the humor the show brought to the relationship and said, “They exploit what they perceive as Palin’s lack of understanding of the issues, and then... it’s wonderful what they do with Hillary -- Hillary is so angry at the pure charisma of this woman -- that’s funny.” Not only is SNL influencing the voters, but the line is becoming blurred between the comedic debates and the real debates. Obama was caught using examples from the show in his answers. The first fake debate was between Obama (played by Fred Armisen) and McCain (played by Darrell Hammond), where McCain dismissed Obama as too experienced for the job. Obama replied with a shocking, "That's interesting, John, coming from the guy who sang 'Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.'" A week and a half later, during his actual debate, Obama batted away a similar jab from McCain by saying “Senator McCain, this is the guy who sang, ‘bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.’” Bill Burton, Obama’s campaign spokesman claimed his answer had nothing to do with the skit, although the skit had been released prior to the actual debate, which results in a good amount of skeptical voters. The beauty of Saturday Night Live is they have not displayed bias. They have picked on every political figure and candidate in the 2008 election, playing as a neutral third party who has nothing to prove but the truth to the hundreds of thousands of voters. Some examples of their jabs at the figures in the elections are Capitol Hill Democrats being hypocritical after the bailout and homeowners from Main Street being shown as greedy on a smaller scale as well. Phillipe Reines, a senior Clinton adviser, stated, “SNL, in terms of their political humor, is most on the money when they are tapping something you already knew.” These political impersonations have been dated back to over three decades earlier when Chevy Chase played President Gerald Ford, which was also a hit. “This is just one crazy way to elect the most important job in the world,” said Reines. Although the show has not tried to single out one political figure in their skits, Palin was a huge hit and SNL decided to roll with it. It has come with a slight cost though: a national study released by HCD Research at the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion shows views of Palin dipped slightly after watching the Tiny Fey skit. Fey was happily answering questions at a press conference, which is something the real Palin has yet to do as the VP nominee, when Palin herself walked onto the stage. Fey took an immediate leave with nothing more than an acknowledging nod toward the Republican candidate. This guest appearance was highly anticipated but none could have guessed when it would take place, and if you blinked you may have missed it. An estimated 14 million viewers had been in the audience of this skit, which was incredibly impressive for a midnight show. Palin explained to news coverage that she had a lot of fun but “did not attend the after-party.” She also stated, “You have to have some levity through this. Otherwise, it would really, I think, grind on you and wear you out.” Her appearance gave her a leg-up over Obama, for although he promised to make it to the show weeks earlier, he cancelled his visit hours prior to the air time. The show owes Palin a lot, for this season has been up 76% over last years’ viewings. If you’re interested in learning more about the political skits, I encourage you to hit YouTube.com or any online news articles. (Statistics and some information taken from National Public Radio’s site: npr.org.) |