The dust has mostly settled, and Hillary Clinton looks to be the big winner in the March 4 primaries. She captured the two prize states of Ohio and Texas, as well as Rhode Island, where her political rival Barack Obama outspent her 5 to 1. So who does the former First Lady thank for this victory? The list is long, but those most deserving of a thank you letter are perhaps the staffs of Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show.
Three weeks ago, Amy Poehler portrayed Clinton on a skit on SNL that made fun of the mainstream media’s largely generous coverage of Barack Obama.
The skit came days after a CNN debate between the two Democratic candidates, and the fake anchors on SNL swooned over Fred Armisen’s spot-on Obama impression, offering extra pillows and sucking up to the candidate in every way imaginable.
The skit became an instant hit, with news shows and newspapers running analyzes on the skit and then self-examining their coverage of Obama; the skit wouldn’t have been funny unless it contained an air of truth.
Clinton clearly caught wind of the piece, as evidenced by her referral to the skit during the next debate, which was broadcast later that week on MSNBC. It was there that the fun began.
The following Saturday, Clinton made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live and did the traditional “Live from New York, its Saturday Night!” opening. This too sent the media into a dither, airing snippets of the performance over and over again. And then on Monday March 3, Clinton held an interview via satellite on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
These appearances, on largely youth-oriented programs, may have been the difference maker in Texas. Obama is considered by most to be the candidate who appeals most heavily to the younger voters, but Clinton took a step in the right direction in claiming some younger voters of her own and defrosting her sometimes icy persona by laughing at herself.
Hillary’s cozying-up to Lorne Michael’s SNL was short lived, though. This past Saturday, the writers went back on the attack, poking fun at the Clinton 3am phone call ad (still in the video bar on the left if you’ve missed it).
And while Clinton may have been the most recent beneficiary of late night comedy, she certainly isn’t the only one.
Just ask Mike Huckabee. Remember when his campaign appeared out of nowhere last summer? Remember what he had done just weeks earlier? He benefited greatly from the Colbert bump, that boost in numbers that an appearance on The Colbert Report tends to inspire. Oh yeah folks, its real.
More importantly, to this blog at least, is the fact that television, pure entertainment-minded television made a difference in something as important as a presidential election. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert constantly claim that they have no desire to affect the public discourse, but whether or not they want to, they clearly do.
We still have a long way to go until we have a Democratic candidate, even longer until the general election. But if these contests are any indication, there is at least one clear winner: shows like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Saturday Night Live.
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