Former Vice President Al Gore lost the Presidential election four years ago for a number of reasons: questionable voting procedures in Florida, a lack of voter turnout and the intricacies of the Electoral College, among others. Also among the causes for his defeat may, in fact, be the sharp satire exhibited that year by "Saturday Night Live." With brilliant mock-ups of the debates, the late night powerhouse may have indeed highlighted the personality and policy flaws that would lead to Gore's election night loss.
Four years later, "Saturday Night Live" has once again decided to parody the election process, unfortunately without Will Ferrell's now classic George W. Bush persona. However, even without Ferrell's brilliant portrayal of our 43rd president, the writers and actors at "SNL" still have plenty of ammo.
Not surprisingly, with the first presidential debate occurring last Thursday, "SNL" elected to lead off the season this past Saturday night with its own rendition of the initial contest. Stepping into the Bush role was Will Forte, and while his name may sound quite similar to that of his predecessor, it seems too often that Forte is doing a lesser impression of Ferrell doing an impression of Bush. However, he did do a more than adequate job of performing the characteristic Dubya stammering, smirking and hyena laugh.
Over on the other podium, Seth Meyers portrayed Senator John Kerry, showing choppers that rival the pearly whites of the Democratic candidate. While the voice sometimes sounded oddly like fellow "SNL"-er Darrell Hammond's Bill Clinton impression, Meyers scored points by mocking the Senator's recently expanded array of hand gestures. Rounding out the spoof was Chris Parnell, caking on the makeup and prosthetics to achieve an eerie resemblance to debate moderator Jim Lehrer.
Like the debate sketches from the previous election, each candidate focused on one idea and repeated it constantly (like the actual debate, but just a tad sillier). Whereas four years ago, Hammond's Al Gore extolled the virtues of the "lockbox" and Ferrell's Bush coined the term "Strategery," Meyers' Kerry tried to refute the claims that he is a "flip-flopper" though a series of contradictions, and Forte's Bush repeatedly explained how he has been working hard, even "coming in on Saturday."
While the sketch didn't quite match the hilarity of the earlier editions, it was adept at mocking the candidates' reluctance to truly say anything different. The satire also did an excellent job of mocking the less political aspects of the debate. Parnell's Lehrer explained the rules, which include "no unnecessary contact," poking fun at the lack of direct debate that the actual rules allow.
When the two candidates met to shake hands, Meyer's Kerry towered over Forte, exaggerating the greatly apparent height difference between the real candidates at last week's debate. The camera angles also slyly mocked the television coverage as, like in the real debate, shots of Forte featured a lot more lectern, making his Bush seem shorter and hunched over. The oft-used split screen was lampooned as well, showing Meyers scribbling with a pen and grinning confidently while Forte spoke and showing Forte as a frustrated, flustered and somewhat insulted Bush as Meyers addressed the crowd.
The closing statements truly managed to capture the essence of the candidates, or at least their characterizations. Forte's Bush brought the discussion back to Sept. 11, and Meyer's Kerry closed his statements by declaring that his much maligned voting history is not flip-flopping, but pandering, and "America deserves a president who knows the difference."
The political barbs continued throughout the show, especially with Kerry stumper Ben Affleck as host. The third sketch of the night once again went back to Florida for a post-debate strategy session in Kerry's hotel room, with Affleck portraying Democrat and ragin' Cajun James Carville. Hammond also reprised his womanizing Clinton and Maya Rudolph played the saucy Theresa Heinz Kerry, who exclaimed "I'm so glad we're running for President."
This sketch expertly poked the Democratic family in the ribs, mocking Kerry for his earlier stab at windsurfing and his gaffe in the debates, when he quoted the Pottery Barn Rule as "You break it, you fix it." Of course, it's also always a treat to see Hammond as Slick Willie, who in this piece gives Kerry the advice: "ditch the wife."
Preying on another cog in the media-political machine, "SNL" presented a spoof of the "Swiftboat Veterans for Truth" political ads that rail against Kerry. However, instead of denying Kerry's heroism in the Vietnam War, these veterans recall his "un-American" actions in Vietnam, like presiding over a gay marriage, supporting healthcare and, most egregiously, eating French food and drinking wine.
The revamped "Weekend Update" also got its political shots in. Tina Fey started the segment by reporting that Bush claims his poor debate performance was due to his buzzer not working. Amy Poehler, who has replaced Jimmy Fallon alongside Fey, continued by imitating the President's distractingly hyperactive blinking. Poehler, somewhat of a surprise choice to take the co-anchor chair, teams with Fey to deliver scathing satire of the news, albeit not reaching the relevance of the "The Daily Show."
The rest of the show was made up of clever spoofs, lewd commercial parodies and typical sketch comedy fare. While "SNL" did deliver laughs in the non-political segments, it knows where to mine for comedy gold this season. All it has to do is turn on the news.
