He may appear on SNL Nov. 1, which if it’s anything like his last appearance, will feature him expertly standing, smiling, accepting applause, and delivering stump speech lines without nearly enough irony. Truly, it was electrifying. Looking back at all four of the major political cameos on SNL this year- Obama, Hillary, McCain, and now Palin- it’s clear that, despite their vaunted “cool” quotient the Democrats were given much less responsibility on the show, and delivered far blander performances. Obama stands around acting like himself, the height of his performance coming at the moment he takes off his mask, the impact of which can be credited to the reveal and the adoration of the audience, but not any particular ability. Though his “Live from New York” is the best of the bunch. Hillary almost literally delivered a stump speech from a desk, the height of her performance coming at the moment Amy Poehler joined her on stage in a matching outfit and hairdo. Hillary’s best line, “Why? What have you heard?” is funnier than anything Obama managed, though stilted. McCain was given an entire skit to handle, during which he argues for a presidential candidate that’s “experienced enough to be president, but most importantly, old enough. It’s important to have a president that’s very, very old.” Palin was asked to deliver plenty of lines and react appropriately to Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, and the SNL rap. She did so with charm, humor, and pretty good timing. Just imagine Hillary trying to pull off all three of those scenes, if you will. Obama’s performance will undoubtedly be heralded as ground-shatteringly great, if he does indeed appear. He got at least some practice at self-deprecation last week, at the Al Smith Dinner, and perhaps learned a few things from McCain’s more comfortable act. I wonder if SNL will take any decent whacks at him, or make him make fun of himself. It’s only polite of them to afford each politician a couple gags that play to their political strengths, though they didn’t do too many favors for Palin. What she gained from the appearance, she earned on her own. One hopes The One will be subjected to at least some substantial razzing (please, Jim Downey?), but we’re more likely in for a barrage of knee-slapping pseudo-parodic exaggerations of Obama’s total awesomeness. But who knows? SNL has surprised us a couple times this year. Here’s hoping they’ve got some kind of minor comic wedgie prepared for Obama. Below the fold are Obama’s, Hillary’s, and McCain’s performances, for comparison. Palin’s performances are here, and here. McCain’s scene is nowhere to be found on NBC’s site (Hmmm….) but I grabbed a YouTube video that features it.
