Is anyone watching SNL's opening?

[Darkstar One]

What in the name of God made the McCain people think it was a good idea to make their candidates look like an idiot three days before an election?

(Not that this gets me upset, because they ARE idiots, but OMG, between him and his wife (and Tina Fey doing Palin)...either no one told them how bad this was going to look, or McCain knows he's going to lose and is having a good time.

[The Bitter Cynic]

Well, he makes himself look like an idiot all by himself, so why not someone else for a change.

[Bob Cherub]

So when Obama goes on and makes fun of himself it's HA HA funny, what a great guy who can joke about himself on national TV.

If McCain does it, he's making himself look like an idiot.

GOTCHA!!

DONT PANIC.

[RSofaer]

So when Obama goes on and makes fun of himself it's HA HA funny, what a great guy who can joke about himself on national TV.

If McCain does it, he's making himself look like an idiot.

GOTCHA!!

DONT PANIC.

Comedy is a skill, Mr. Cherub.

[Bahimiron]

Never heard of it.

What's SNL? Is it one of those books, comics, TVs or musics people are always talking about?

[Bullhajj]

What's SNL?

LIVE from new york. it's SATURDAY NIGHT.

[Talisker]

McCain helps himself by showing he can make good-natured fun of everything -- he comes off much, much better when he's joking around. I don't think he looked like an idiot at all.

[CSL]

McCain did a pretty good job overall, but it distinctly felt like he was going on to have a little fun before his dreams were crushed.

[Jeff Green]

So when Obama goes on and makes fun of himself it's HA HA funny, what a great guy who can joke about himself on national TV.

If McCain does it, he's making himself look like an idiot.

GOTCHA!!

DONT PANIC.

You've got so little left, man. You're just running on fumes and bitterness now.

[Equis]

McCain did a pretty good job overall, but it distinctly felt like he was going on to have a little fun before his dreams were crushed.

McCain always seemed to be the better comedian than Obama. He has better timing.

[corsair]

Wait, I can't read this thread yet!!! It's Saturday Night Not-Quite Live on the Left Coast. LalalalalalaIcan'thearyoulalalalalala....

[Talisker]

Wait, I can't read this thread yet!!! It's Saturday Night Not-Quite Live on the Left Coast. LalalalalalaIcan'thearyoulalalalalala....
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/mccain-qvc-open/805381/

[Eric T Cheng]

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/mccain-qvc-open/805381/

Do people seriously believe that Sen. Obama is a socialist/communist?

From the first comment in that link:

GO MCCAIN......... GO PALIN..........
SAVE AMERICA.

STOP AMERICA FROM CHANGING TO COMMUNIST COUNTRY. THE CHANGE THAT OBAMA HUSSEIN WANTS TO BRING.

[Menzo]

I thought it was great (intro only - west coast, dontchaknow). McCain had good comedic timing and didn't mess up his lines.

"I'm a true maverick - a republican with no money" - good stuff.

[DennyA]

I thought it was great (intro only - west coast, dontchaknow). McCain had good comedic timing and didn't mess up his lines.

"I'm a true maverick - a republican with no money" - good stuff.
Yeah, that was hilarious.

I thought it was funny, and it reminds people of the McCain that used to be popular on talk shows and the Daily Show before he started sucking up to the radical right. I can't see it having anything other than a positive effect. It's certainly not going to make anyone not vote for him.

[jpinard]

I thought it was great (intro only - west coast, dontchaknow). McCain had good comedic timing and didn't mess up his lines.

"I'm a true maverick - a republican with no money" - good stuff.

What a good lie. Him & his wife are worth an estimated quarter of a billion dollars. I'm upset with SNL for doing this, because I do think it has garnered votes of McCain & Palin. They can take those clips and influence people to say, "They're just one of us" when in reality they primarily represent fundamentalists and the wealthy elite.

Popelple forget how good natured George W. Bush was and that certainly helped his election with the, "I'm just a nice fun-lovin' guy". Reality and behind closed doors is a whole nother thing.

In fact my nutty mother-in-law came over and she told us we better vote for McCain or Obama would raise our taxes. I asked her, sice when did you tw start making $250,000 a year (she quit working because she's lazy and her husband is a truck driver) and I tol dher the difference between Obama and McCain's tax plans and how Obama's plan is the only one which would help them. Neither she nor her husband believed me. They also think McCain has very little money and is super average.

People are so naive and when you tell them the truth they've been so ingrained by lies and deception they can't imagine the truth.

[corsair]

It was a funny bit. I don't see how it particularly hurt McCain - it was funny without being either cruel or patronizing. I think he is helped by appearing human rather than the character assassination machine that he has become.

[Mordrak]

I loved the Palin going rogue bit.

[Papageno]

The "McCain Fine Gold" thing was a nice touch.

And of course the whole thing was a riff off of the idea of Obama's thing being, essentially, an infomercial.

[cesare]

McCain's always been good on SNL, his appearance on Weekend Update during the Democratic primary was hilarious.

<scheming McCain>"That's right, fight amongst yourselves.."</scheming McCain>

To the OP: Candidates almost always get a bump when they appear on SNL, it makes them look like they're not just cardboard cutouts and have a sense of humor. McCain's had successful appearances on SNL before, it makes sense to try to squeeze a little bump the weekend before the election.

[bago]

I laughed.

[Destarius]

Seriously, this raised McCain many notches for me.

jpinard - it's not like it's unethical to get on SNL. It was funny and I think McCain did a good job humanising himself.

[Bahimiron]

I'm upset with SNL for doing this, because I do think it has garnered votes of McCain & Palin.

Jeff, this (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/palin-on-isnli-what-did-y_b_136186.html) is mostly about the Palin appearance, but it's still pretty valid.

The most salient paragraph...

If you think an appearance on Saturday Night Live would sway voters and actually affect the outcome of the election, you may have more contempt for the electorate of this country than the Republican National Committee does. And that's a lot of contempt.

[cesare]

If Alec Baldwin doesn't think that putting a candidate on a mainstream, nationally broadcast television show doesn't have an affect on poll numbers (not to mention the ensuing positive coverage in the media) then he hasn't been paying any attention whatsoever.

I dunno, maybe I do have contempt for the average voter, but I've also, like many people, been following the news cycles and the polls religiously since last winter. This stuff has an effect. It's not a necessarily a judgment on voters, it's a demonstrable fact.

[Hanacker]

You really don't think Alec Baldwin has contempt for the people that voted for George W Bush twice? Maybe he just thinks his contempt is slightly less than that of the RNC.

[Ergo]

We enjoyed it quite a bit. McCain showed he's not afraid to make fun of himself, plus he got to take a couple of shots at the Dems. I don't think he made himself look bad.

[Jeremy Johnsen]

I thought he was very funny, much better than the Palin appearance.

[Moggraider]

Of course the SNL appearances have a positive effect on anyone (or almost anyone) who shows up. I'm surprised at Baldwin's narrow-minded statement.

This weekend's showing was the funniest of the whole election cycle.

[Bahimiron]

Of course the SNL appearances have a positive effect on anyone (or almost anyone) who shows up. I'm surprised at Baldwin's narrow-minded statement.

538 shows McCain with the lowest chance of winning he's had in the entire election cycle.

Go SNL bump?

[StGabe]

Go SNL bump?

More like the SNL "bump" is being overridden by more important factors. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

[Machfive]

Okay, that was pretty funny. Kudos to SNL for actually having some good material lately.