Palin on SNL

This weekend, Sarah Palin was on Saturday Night Live:

Will her appearance help or hurt the McCain/Palin campaign? Did she demonstrate a sense of humor and confidence - or merely accentuate her reputation as a lightweight?

Discuss.

  • Anthony (unverified)
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    Palin looks uncomfortbale and very awkward in the rap clip. I get the feeling that she REALLY didn't want to be on SNL but was told by her handlers that she HAD to go.

  • Bill Hall (unverified)
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    Governor Palin is making the most of her fifteen minutes of fame, which will end two weeks from tomorrow night.

  • J Renaud (unverified)
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    Bill, I wholly disagree with you. Lorne Michaels is not a fool. Palin and family will have a short but very profitable career as a late night (Pacific Time?) reality show on NBC.

    "Wasilla Ways"? "Lipstick for the Pitbull Family?" "Mrs. Palin goes to Juneau"?

    Could Micheals get a jaded lobbyist type to play Gordon Ramsey's character, something from "Yes, Prime Minister" a Machiavellian Mr. Fixit?

    Cameras on servo motors, hidden microphones, fistfights in front of the garage between dad and various critter boyfriends. You thought the Osbournes were untamed? Just wait for the Tundra Titans!

    Think that wouldn't find sponsor? I'd pitch it in a minute! But Lorne's got her signed up. You betcha.

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    OMG this was funny. It also "balanced" SNL's prior skewers by letting Palin look tough enough to take a ribbing, while not giving up the "Palin = Crazy Huntress" narrative.

    Palin is losing. In SNL terms, they let her down easy in the end. SNL has won large this season, and shown some style.

    Any bets on Palin getting Stevens' seat?

  • Dylan Darling (unverified)
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    I still can't believe she was on the show. I think it was really Tina Fey the whole time.

  • Buckman Res (unverified)
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    She owned the show and gave SNL record ratings. Loved the way she handled Alec “Blowhard” Baldwin in the opening sketch.

    Strong, opinionated women like her who don’t backdown are indeed a threat to the established order.

  • LT (unverified)
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    I thought Palin a more natural person on SNL than ever in a political context. Maybe that says something about the McCain campaign handlers.

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    Palin proved that she could recite short scripted lines with some ease, which one would expect from someone who had actually worked in broadcast -- she didn't freeze up or freak out, but I wouldn't have expected her to.

    It's pretty funny that Buckman Res thinks that she "handled" Baldwin - as if that had been a real unscripted encounter instead of a series of gags with Baldwin believing she was Tina Fey.

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    1) Palin did fine, but what did you expect? She should do well in this sort of setting.

    2) This will be irrelevant for the campaign. What is much more damaging is the increasingly loud drumbeat of GOP commentators who admit that the Palin pick is an utter disaster.

    3) Long term this will do nothing to undermine the perception that Palin is a lightweight.

    4) Stevens's seat is going to be won by the Democrat. Maybe Palin can win it in six years?

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    I actually thought Palin was pretty funny. I thought Alec Baldwin was great with her, too.

    Palin is a feather-weight candidate of absolute fluff and nonsense..but the woman knows how to work a camera.

  • Ray Duray (unverified)
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    Pepe Escobar at the Real News Network does some nice editorial cuts in this brief on hyper-reality gone mad.

  • springfielder (unverified)
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    I thought she seemed stiff and uncomfortable, and really didn't DO anything. She was simply present. I agree with Anthony that she looked like she didn't really want to be there.

    Not that any of the other SNL folks looked much better. Baldwin could barely read a line and the intro skit was pretty poorly done all the way around. Did nobody practice this week?

    I did enjoy the music bit better. But even then, Palin was merely present.

    I can't see how it helps the campaign. But I can't see it hurting either.

  • Bill Hall (unverified)
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    Renaud--

    You may be right on the money.

    God help us!

  • ws (unverified)
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    I heard Palin was on the Weekend Update sketch...damn, I missed that, but she was great in the opening with Baldwin. Totally cute, charming and at ease. Definitely knows how to look great on camera. I hope SNL continues to book her after the election. More sketches exploring some of her wackier notions should be a laugh riot. She might be just the type of person that would roll with that too. But please....do not let this person become VP or president.

  • mulleyJoillewly (unverified)
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    What financial planning have you done for yourself? My trading

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    She owned the show and gave SNL record ratings. Loved the way she handled Alec “Blowhard” Baldwin in the opening sketch.

    Newsflash: Palin able to read teleprompter.

    Film at 11.......

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    She will be an important part of a balanced 27%er breakfast for the next twenty years.

  • Tom Civiletti (unverified)
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    <h2>Palin would be a really good small market sports news presenter.</h2>
open discussion

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