Althouse: John McCain on "SNL."

November 2, 2008

John McCain on "SNL."

The opening with Tina Fey:

On "Weekend Update" (with some booing):

McCain has excellent comic delivery. "The Sad Grandpa" made me laugh out loud.

28 comments:

Dody Jane said...: You have got to give it to him - he is a damn good sport. I have to admit - I do love Fey as Palin. I adore her accent. It reminds me of my childhood. I have a cottage in Wisconsin and I visit twice a year. I love to talk in my Boat Coat voice (as I call it).

"Ya, let's all get (h)our bOAT cOATs on and gOA on a bOAT ride!!! You betcha!"; 11/2/08, 7:51 AM
Meade said...: Now that was funny.

Can you imagine Obama going on SNL? I cringe at the thought.; 11/2/08, 8:07 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Why would Palin have a Wisconsin accent?; 11/2/08, 8:13 AM
Dody Jane said...: I meant her accent reminds me of a Wisconsin accent - sorry - I should have been more clear!!!; 11/2/08, 8:36 AM
PWS said...: Yes, McCain's comedic timing is good. He was also much funnier than Obama and the Smith dinner thing in NY.

Why then is he so unfunny when he tries to ham it up during a speech or appearance?

Remember Ann when you said about a week or two ago (or more?) that he should start campaigning like he knows he's going to lose?

That's what I thought of when I saw McCain being funny. He could really do it. It's much preferable to the angry old guy saying "We're going to FIGHT!"; 11/2/08, 9:06 AM
Jen Bradford said...: McCain was great, and it was somehow reassuring to see the twinkle in his eye last night. But my fav was Affleck's Keith Olbermann which is hilarious.; 11/2/08, 9:13 AM
The Drill SGT said...: Ann Althouse said...
Why would Palin have a Wisconsin accent?

From the first time I heard her, I have thought Palin has an upper Mid-West accent.

the basis? I don't know; 11/2/08, 9:29 AM
sixty-five said...: That almost made me want to vote for him!; 11/2/08, 9:40 AM
BJK said...: Can you imagine Obama going on SNL? I cringe at the thought.

Neither can Barack Obama; he committed to showing up on the season premiere of SNL back in September, only to back out at the last minute.

http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/snl-premiere-obama-will-play-obama-who-will-play-palin/

(Kind of like his commitment to public financing....but we should totally believe he'll keep to his promises once he takes office, right Ann?); 11/2/08, 10:03 AM
Peter Hoh said...: This is the McCain I love. Wish this guy could have been campaigning.

I don't have time to confirm the story, but a friend told me that somewhere in the valley (the valley which includes Wasilla) is a town that was populated (or started) during WWII (or the Depression) by a group of resettled Minnesotans.; 11/2/08, 11:25 AM
Simon said...: peter hoh said...
"This is the McCain I love. Wish this guy could have been campaigning."

As I recall, he tried to run the campaign the way he wanted to. But the media completely ignored him; I hear that the media actually reporting what you do is somewhat useful to campaigning, and if the media only covers you when you're talking about Obama, your options start to narrow.; 11/2/08, 11:37 AM
Simon said...: BJK said...
"[Obama] committed to showing up on the season premiere of SNL back in September, only to back out at the last minute ... Kind of like his commitment to public financing ... but we should totally believe he'll keep to his promises once he takes office, right Ann?[]"

Yes, what exactly what the last promise he kept?; 11/2/08, 11:46 AM
joewxman said...: i have to tell you that last's nights SNL QVC skit has put me back in the undecided camp. i was leaning obama.McCain showed a side to him that we only wish we could have seen earlier.

I'll make my decision over my wife's lasagna and the Giants-Cowboys game.; 11/2/08, 11:52 AM
TJ said...: "Neither can Barack Obama; he committed to showing up on the season premiere of SNL back in September, only to back out at the last minute."

Are you kidding? The worst storm to hit Texas in 50 years was making landfall the same weekend. Were you also critical of his decision not to (pretend to) suspend his campaign?; 11/2/08, 12:29 PM
MayBee said...: Look what's happened to humor on the left, though.
Ezra Klein is all, I think it's a little weird that both John McCain and Sarah Palin have parachuted onto the Saturday Night Live set in order to help the show sink their campaign. But you sort of get it: Palin was trying to rack up some brownie points for 2012. And McCain, well, McCain is pretty clearly trying to kneecap Palin's 2012 ambitions

Being willing to have fun at your own expense isn't good sportsmanship anymore. It is foolish. People teasing you are trying to destroy you.

All because Obama cannot be teased, and will not participate.; 11/2/08, 12:35 PM
Jen Bradford said...: Obama showed up on SNL last year in a brief cameo.

But it was just an "Oh my God it's Barack Obama!" moment, which - meh. I understand why he may not feel he can afford to goof on himself, but it is dreary.; 11/2/08, 1:34 PM
chickelit said...: peter hoh wrote I don't have time to confirm the story, but a friend told me that somewhere in the valley (the valley which includes Wasilla) is a town that was populated (or started) during WWII (or the Depression) by a group of resettled Minnesotans.

That's an amazing piece of trivia. Sometimes I wonder why or how people even know such things. :); 11/2/08, 3:07 PM
chickelit said...: meade wrote: Can you imagine Obama going on SNL? I cringe at the thought.

President Stealth promises a dearth of mirth.
And the worship Michelle for her beauty.; 11/2/08, 3:13 PM
a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...: Thanks for the links. He was funny. The 'maverick Republican - without money' hit home. He helps his supporters with a 'fun goes on' attitude.; 11/2/08, 3:16 PM
Modern Otter said...: McCain was terrific on the show, as was Cindy as the jewelry lady. I have to admit some surprise about his willingness to participate in the "Palin going rogue" theme.; 11/2/08, 4:38 PM
MadisonMan said...: To expand on Peter's comment, I vaguely recall reading that the people who settled around Wasilla came from Mankato (MN); 11/2/08, 8:07 PM
Synova said...: I'm of the opinion that one of the reasons McCain picked Palin was that he wanted to pick someone who would benefit from the exposure. I believe he's been trying to win, but has got to have known from the beginning that this year was an uphill battle for which ever Republican got the nomination.

Also...

The Starbuck's ad was painful, don't you think?

I find it annoying when someone is trying to guilt me. I mean, who do they think they are? Why do they get their social and public obligations taken care of by hectoring other people for not caring enough? We could all do that... wag fingers at each other and say, "The world would be better if *you* weren't so selfish," shame, shame. "What do you mean I haven't done anything? I'm *raising awareness", so STFU."

And by what leap of reason would the country be a better place if everyone *cared* enough to vote? Why would it be?

As if "caring" or paying money to lecture the public actually makes our communities appreciably better. To make things better you have to actually do something, and it matters not at all what you're *feeling* while you do it.; 11/2/08, 8:29 PM
Jen Bradford said...: The SNL guys were surprisingly sweet about Sarah Palin on Charlie Rose recently. On the same page is a clip of an interview with her that must have taken place before she was tapped. It's strange to see, actually.

To make things better you have to actually do something, and it matters not at all what you're *feeling* while you do it.

I've been thinking a lot about this idea as it relates to the election generally. Namely, the fact that a wildly enthusiastic vote is equal to a grudging one. Which is why all of the polling and high # of "undecided voters" (who I think could be more accurately described as "unhappy voters") means it could be a very strange day. But then I'll look at an electoral breakdown and think no, it's probably over.; 11/2/08, 9:53 PM
Peter Hoh said...: Found it:

Placing Sarah Palin's Accent.

The next town over from Wasilla, Palmer, has a large settlement of Minnesotans—who were moved there by a government relief program in the 1930s—and features of the Minnesotan dialect are thus prominent in the Mat-Su Valley area.; 11/2/08, 10:14 PM
chickelit said...: @Peter:

I'm more interested in the author's name: Jesse Sheidlower. It has the word Sheid in it, probably derived from the German Scheide, which is cogant with our word sheath. Scheide can mean vagina in German, and metaphorically, in English too.

Now isn't that interesting?; 11/2/08, 10:38 PM
Nichevo said...: Why yes, yes it is.; 11/3/08, 1:39 AM
Paul Arrand Rodgers said...: Pretty strong episode of SNL. The Olberman sketch had me in stitches, and the opening was extremely well done.

I've read that McCain is loosening up and just enjoying himself now. If he'd appeared to be enjoying himself the whole time, things may have been very, very different.; 11/3/08, 12:05 PM
Polilla said...: Here's the news, but what do you think about: 'Saturday Night Live' Political Skits Make Real Impact on Voters; 11/9/08, 3:57 AM