All Blog Posts from Horserace

John McCain appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” tonight alongside Tina Fey as his running mate Sarah Palin in what can only be described as an odd turn in the presidential election. The opening night skit featured McCain and “Palin” on the cable shopping channel QVC, with McCain noting that while Barack Obama could afford buying time on three major networks, his campaign was forced down the channel.

Among the “products” hawked by McCain were ten commemorative plates marking the ten town-hall debates the candidates had. Of course, those were the encounters proposed by McCain that Obama turned down so the plates were simply white. “Too bad, they’re still nice plates,” McCain said. Another product was a set of McCain “tough pork knives,” designed to cut through the toughest Congressional pork. Cindy McCain made an appearance as well as a presenter.

Perhaps the most awkward moment was when “Palin” announced she was going “rogue” and introduced her line of “Palin 2012” t-shirts, asking buyers to please refrain from wearing them until after Tuesday and proclaiming that she would either be a presidential candidate or the “white Oprah” after the election but would not be returning to Alaska. Welcome to the final 71 hours of campaign 2008.

Just weeks after his running mate appeared on “Saturday Night Live” alongside her mimic Tina Fey, John McCain will appear on the last regular pre-election episode of the show tomorrow night. No word on what part McCain would have on the program but he’s no stranger to the set, having last appeared on the show in May. McCain also hosted it in 2002.

John McCain’s campaign has confirmed that vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will appear on “Saturday Night Live” tomorrow night. Palin has been parodied frequently on the show since her selection to the ticket by Tina Fey, who bears a remarkable resemblance to the Alaska governor. No word yet on what Palin may do on the show but most political junkies will be expecting something involving both women. Another note: The guest host of this weekend’s show is actor Josh Brolin, star of Oliver Stone’s new movie, “W.”

As Saturday Night Live viewers well know, Tina Fey's much-talked-about impression of GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has not been kind to the Alaska governor. It may even have played a role in fixing the public perception of the candidate, which, at least until last week's vice presidential debate, has largely been on the decline since she exploded onto the national scene.

Now the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Palin may appear on Saturday Night Live herself, potentially to make fun of Fey's American Express commercials. Bill Zwecker reports that while some McCain staffers want Palin to simply keep joking about Fey's impression on the campaign trail – she wrote "I'm not Tina Fey" on one backer's cell phone – others believe it is important that she appear on the show herself.

Palin would be far from the first candidate to appear on SNL after an unflattering portrayal. Earlier this year, Hillary Clinton appeared on the show standing next to an identically-dressed Amy Poehler, who had mockingly portrayed her, presumably to show she is in on the joke.

The legend of the "3 a.m. phone call" lived on over the weekend, as "Saturday Night Live" began its newest episode with a parody featuring an in-over-his-head President Obama soliciting late-night advice from Hillary Clinton on how to handle a simmering international crisis.



The skit is raising questions about whether the venerable institution that has produced decades of sharp political parody has become a cheerleader for the Clinton campaign. In the three episodes that have aired since the end of the television writers' strike, "SNL" has run a string of apparently pro-Clinton segments, including an endorsement from Tina Fey, a parody on perceived pro-Obama media bias and a self-deprecating appearance by Clinton herself, which may have given her a bump going into Ohio and Texas.

Political reporters were among those who most lamented the writers' strike, which continued through the early stages of the campaign. Without the poignant jabs of late-night comedians, the daily political discourse seemed to be lacking an important element.

How would Letterman have reacted to the now famous tears Hillary Clinton shed while opening up about the pressures of the campaign. What would Jon Stewart have said about Mike Huckabee's bizarre pre-Iowa caucus press conference, in which he announced with great fanfare that he would backtrack on his decision to air a negative advertisement against Mitt Romney before proceeding to show it to the assembled press anyway?

Time and again, parody has inspired what becomes conventional wisdom, and what happens on "Saturday Night" can help set the tone for the week ahead.

Hillary Clinton made a stop on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, appearing next to Amy Poehler, who plays Clinton on the show. (They were even wearing the same outfit.)

"I simply adore Amy's impression of me," Clinton said as Poehler appeared onstage and the pair complimented each other's outfits.

"Tonight I just want to relax, have fun, not worry about the campaign," Clinton went on to say. "No politics." She then went into an appeal to the citizens of Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont and Pennsylvania, prompting laughter from the audience.



"Saturday Night Live" made news recently for a seeming endorsement of the former first lady from guest host Tina Fey.

"We have our first serious female presidential candidate in Hillary Clinton," Fey said. "And yet women have come so far as feminists that they don't feel obligated to vote for a candidate just because she is a woman. Women today feel perfectly free to make whatever choice Oprah tells them to."