There is one election year phenomenon possibly even more anticipated than the voting itself: Saturday Night Live’s parodies of the campaign trail. Regardless of personal party affiliation many of the jokes hit home and make valid statements about the governments’ condition. On the other hand, some are ruthlessly exaggerated. Here’s a list of some favorites from the past few weeks:
The Undecided Voters – The opening copy reads, “The undecided voters will determine the outcome of the election,” and it’s not altogether untrue. This close to the election, surveys report most voters are sure or almost sure about their candidate pick, but polls are only tools and social science is not perfect. The “undecided” voters in the skit are more akin to completely ignorant citizens. The ad satirizes the idea of being undecided this late in the game, because there exists an overwhelming amount of information about each candidate. How could you not know? The commercial states at the end, “brought to you by the low-information voters of America.” Many of these late-deciders are actually very informed, but they care about issues which they feel are not being addressed in the election (for example, the drone war). But if you find yourself wondering about any of these questions, please stay home on November 6th, which by the way, is the date of the election, Taran.
The G.O.B. Tampon – “Designed with all the knowledge of a woman’s anatomy that only comes from being a 60+ year-old conservative man.” Women’s issues have been a surprisingly hot-button and relevant issue this election season, between the contraception mandate uproar, the “legitimate” rape comments, and Romney’s “binders full of women” remark at the second debate. Women from both parties should appreciate this ad though, because frankly what women do and don’t put in their bodies should not constitute an issue of government. While extremely silly, this ad champions that message loud and clear.
Obama, What Are You Doing? – About a month ago, Seth Meyers ran a spoof on Obama in his Weekend Update segment, after the president’s statement that “you can’t change Washington from the inside.” That’s never a sentence one wants to hear from the president. As Meyers points out, whether or not this is true, why would Obama say such a thing when he was looking unbeatable at this point. The whole thing is made doubly ironic when we’re reminded of the incumbent’s favorite two optimistic nouns, hope and change. Apparently, if you’re interested in government and policy, avoid Washington at all costs, because you can’t change things there. Seriously what are we supposed to do? “Look if you make a Facebook page, we’ll “like” it; it’s the least we can do, but it’s also the most we can do.”
The V.P. Debate Spoof – Kate McKinnon opens the debate, “Just keep in mind gentlemen that your performance tonight has almost no effect on the outcome of the election.” How true is that? Do people actually care about the VP candidates? I would say largely no, not so much, with the exception of McCain’s pick, Sarah Palin, in the 2008 election (who surprisingly polarized voters in both directions). However, if you missed this debate, I recommend trying to find it somewhere because it was great fun, as depicted in the parody. Biden appeared intoxicated as he was apparently friends with everyone and was seeming unable to stop himself from interrupting Ryan and Raddatz. Meanwhile, Ryan gulped down water like he was preparing for a half-marathon and stared into the souls of the viewers with a sad monkey-like expression dominating his face. If that’s not good politics, then I don’t know what is.The SNL parodies achieve their goal of amusing the audience by making caricatures of the candidates and their faux-pas. Take the skits for what they are – entertainment; don’t base your pick on Jay Pharoah’s uncanny ability to replicate Obama’s phonetics. On the other hand, I will admit that some skits raise important questions. For example, can women vote? Because if not, as a woman, I have a real problem with that.
