Capitol Comedy Plays Out on TV
Political candidates know the jokes are on them
D Fine
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The 2008 presidential election has been a boon to television comedians and writers. The eclectic and quirky characters of this year's election are: an accented, gun-toting, hockey-mom governor from Alaska; a septuagenarian, war-hero senator from Arizona; a Hawaiian-born, Jakarta-schooled, mixed-race senator from Illinois, a shoot-from-the-hip/foot-in-my-mouth veteran senator originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania; and the old stand-by's Bill and Hillary Clinton - not much description needed with them.
This grab-bag of diverse candidates has provided much comedy for the American public, and has even created a revival-of-sorts for Saturday Night Live (SNL). The show has greatly benefitted from the performances of current and past cast members uncannily accurate impersonations. Tina Fey, a former cast member who now stars on another show, 30 Rock, has been acting as Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Her impersonation has been a major draw, as she perfectly mimics the candidate's Alaskan quirkiness. And when the real Sarah Palin was on Saturday Night Live on Oct. 18, the show had its best ratings in fourteen years, according to the ABC News. John McCain's visit on Nov. 1 gave the show its second highest rating in the same period.
The candidates themselves have embraced the draw of these shows, realizing its potential to attract voters under the age of 30, but it has also sullied their image and diminished their serious tone. "I think the candidates look somewhat foolish. They can be funny… but it comes at a price," explains Timothy Bradshaw, of New Jersey. His wife Carly Bradshaw adds, "It just looks desperate. I can't see Obama parodying himself the same way."
The Republicans have indeed taken the brunt of the jokes. As printed in the online news publication, SouthCoastToday.com, "From Sept. 1 through [Oct 30], the Republicans were the target of 475 jokes by Jay Leno and David Letterman alone. The Democratic team of Obama and Joe Biden were the victim 69 times, according to the Center for Media and Public Affairs, which has been tracking such data since 1988. That's nearly a 7-to-1 ratio."
One exception to the ratio was D.L. Hughley, the comedian-turned-CNN-television-show host. On his self-titled show's recent premier, he had more jokes about Obama than any other candidate. As stated in the New York Times, he thinks comedy humanizes people, and if Obama is elected president, the late-night comics better get used to joking about him.
But as quoted in the same Times article, "There are certain people who once they become joke topics, they are forever joke topics," said Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University. One such candidate is the aforementioned Governor Sarah Palin, who had a widely criticized live interview with Katie Couric. Vice-presidential debate observer Timothy Bradshaw says he thinks Palin is now infamous for her, "I'll get back to you later" answers to questions.
Before her debate with Senator Biden, Ed Randell, Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, was quoted in the New York Times as saying,"She might be reaching a point of self-caricature, but she can bring it all back tonight." Bradshaw says of Palin's and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden's debate performance, "I found it quite amazing how neither of them [Biden and Palin] managed to put their foot in their mouth."
Though Palin did hold her own in her only debate, the Republicans ultimately lost the Nov. 4 election. Palin can claim a minor victory though - Tina Fey has announced she will retire her Palin caricature. So not all is lost for the Republicans, but it might be for the comedians.
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