SNL Influencing The Election by Aaron Tanguay

Since the early days of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” one of the easiest targets have been politicians, most notably presidents and presidential candidates. In the early days it was George Bush and a common favorite Ross Perot. During the Clinton administration there were plenty of opportunities to create these parodies as he faced many controversial situations. Recently there has been a much larger rise in comical parodies of candidates and politicians during the most recent Bush administration. George W. Bush has become a very easy and often used target for these shows and most recently Frank Caliendo’s “Frank TV”.

As the race for office heats up in the presidential race so have the parodies. In the last couple weeks SNL has targeted vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, especially since her less than stellar interview with Katie Couric on CBS Evening News. Tina Fey who plays Palin, frequently gave answers not necessarily pertaining to the question and also in a skit imitating the Vice Presidential Debate often used the phrase “maverick” when referring to the McCain-Palin campaign, a term that has been quite frequently by the two.

But do these skits affect the election? While a vast majority of the SNL audience is younger people, many of its viewers will be voting for the first time, and with youth also comes a lack of knowledge when it comes to politics. “I don’t know much about politics and if it wasn’t for shows like SNL or The Daily Show and Colbert Report, I wouldn’t know anything,” said University of Southern Maine junior Anthony Dahms. This puts these shows in a position where they have the ability to persuade voters, giving a great deal of responsibility to these shows.

Another large aspect of these parodies is the rise of youtube. Now these skits are available anytime, not just during the air time. Some students do believe that these skits alter the way people vote. “I think the viral videos on youtube have a large effect because they reach a wide audience,” said Quinnipiac junior Mike Nairn. While students like Nairn feel that they do influence some others just believe it alters people’s perception of the candidates.

“I don’t think they necessarily influences the way people vote but it definitely distorts the candidate’s image,” says junior Greg House.

Whether or not it’s influencing the actual vote of the people watching these shows it is definitely creating an image of the candidates that because of the comedy associating with that image leaves a lasting perception.