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2008 Presidential Election Becomes Laughing Matter

NBC photo

Tina Fey, left with Amy Poehler, has returned to "Saturday Night Live" to play Sarah Palin.

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By WILLIAM MARCH

wmarch@tampatrib.com

Published: October 9, 2008

TAMPA - Zack Turner, a University of South Florida senior, says most of his friends don't follow political news, but they watch shows like "Saturday Night Live," "The Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Daily Show" religiously.

He thinks Tina Fey's razor-sharp mimicry of Sarah Palin on "SNL" and Letterman's skewering of John McCain have cost Republicans votes: "It's had a huge impact," he said.

Capitalizing on the immense popularity of Fey/Palin - who just copped three Emmys and made it clear she's not a fan of the woman she channels - "SNL" is kicking things up a notch. They're adding a weekly, half-hour prime time show, starting tonight at 9:30, to their usual Saturday late-night slot.

That makes it hard to avoid the question: Are entertainers like Letterman, Fey, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" and Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report" affecting the election?

Anecdotal evidence like Turner's says yes, but several experts said no.

"It reinforces more than it changes," said Susan MacManus, a USF political scientist.

Still, Palin has been forced to try to defuse the situation by joking about Tina Fey in stump speeches, and there are rumors Palin will appear on the show. A show spokesman didn't respond to an e-mail asking about those rumors.

It may be hard for middle-aged or elderly newshounds to believe, but comedy shows with political satire - including Letterman, Jay Leno, Colbert and Stewart - have become significant news sources for younger people.

Turner, a communications major, watches television news and reads newspapers; he's required to for his courses. Within his circle of friends, however, that makes him an exception.

"To me and a lot of my friends, it's bland and boring," he said of "straight" news. "That's why I find myself turning to comedy shows."

He's not alone.

In a 2004 study, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that adults under 30 were almost as likely to get political news from comedy shows as from newspapers, newscasts or the Internet.

Most of the comedy shows aren't friendly toward Republicans.

"Political satire right now seems to be more the province of the liberal-leaning show," said Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas political scientist who specializes in presidential politics. "TV and radio conservatives seem to prefer anger or belittlement."

Buchanan, like MacManus, doesn't think the satire shows change many votes. "They reinforce existing preferences by 'preaching to the choir' that tunes in," he said.

Larry Sabato, well-known University of Virginia pundit, agrees. Kids who watch the shows "have plenty of other sources of information: their friends, family members, hard-news headlines that they see," even if they don't read the stories, he said.

Their parents' partisan identification, he added "is a strong predictor of their vote."

Letterman sliced up McCain during a crucial week of the campaign, when the Wall Street meltdown hit the headlines Sept. 24.

That day, McCain asked to delay his first debate with Obama, announced he would "suspend" his campaign, and canceled an appearance on Letterman, saying he needed to rush back to Washington to work on a bailout bill.

When McCain turned up doing a Katie Couric interview in New York that night, and spent the night there instead of rushing to the Capitol, Letterman pounced, showing live video on his show of McCain having makeup applied before his interview.

"This just doesn't smell right," he said. "Because this is not the way a tested hero behaves. I think someone's put something in his Metamucil."

The next night, he laid into McCain again: "John, here's how it works: You don't come to see me ... Well, we might not see you on Inauguration Day."

He wasn't much nicer to Palin.

"To improve her foreign policy experience, she recently went to the International House of Pancakes," his Top 10 list quipped.

In her Clearwater rally Monday, Palin responded that when critics bashed a television interview she did, "I shoulda told them I was just trying to keep Tina Fey in business."

Largely because of Fey, "SNL's" ratings have skyrocketed, inspiring NBC to add a "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" to its prime time lineup. Neither the Obama nor McCain campaigns would comment substantively on whether the shows are affecting the race.

"They're making fun of us, too," said Obama spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh, referring to the "SNL" debate spoof that included Jason Sudeikis as Biden as well as Fey/Palin. "A good characteristic for an elected official to have is a sense of humor."

McCain spokesman Mario Diaz referred to Palin's comments on Fey.

In an interview with WFLA, Channel 8's Keith Cate this week, Palin said of Fey, "She's a hoot. She's very talented and you know what, looking in your monitor, too, I'm like, dangit, I look just like her."

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761.

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