Could Larry David's great imitation help Bernie Sanders?

[portlander23]

Last edited Mon Oct 19, 2015, 01:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Could Larry David's great imitation help Bernie Sanders?
By Peter Grier
The Christian Science Monitor

So here’s the question: Is it good for Sanders to get this full SNL treatment? They’re making fun of him, after all. He’s depicted as a wild-haired crazy uncle. At the end, Larry David has “Sanders” saying that next November he’ll be Hillary Clinton’s VP, not president.

Today the real Bernie Sanders is gamely insisting that he liked the portrayal, and that he owns plenty of clean underwear – not just one pair, as Larry David’s “Sanders” claimed.

But on the whole we’d say the portrayal is going to help Sanders. For one, SNL treated Larry David as the star of the skit. Did you notice that David comes on stage last, after the Hillary Clinton character? Throughout “Clinton” is portrayed as somebody reacting to and working off of “Sanders."

That’s a minor point. The major one is that Sanders will get tons of after-debate comment from “his” SNL appearance. And as we’ve noted, winning the after-debate coverage is as important, if not more so, than winning the debate itself.

This continued attention could combine with Sanders’s actual debate performance to make mid-October a turning point for the Sanders campaign. He is still very unlikely to win the actual nomination, as he has yet to translate his strength with white liberals into a broader party constituency. A just-out CNN/ORC poll finds a plurality of those who watched the debate think Clinton won. That same survey shows that Sanders is the candidate who’s received a debate bump, however. He’s up five points to 29 percent since mid-September.

No doubt Mr. Sanders was the star of the debate and the skit.


More:

Bernie Sanders' best weapon may be Larry David
Dean Obeidallah
CNN

Larry David's impersonation of Bernie Sanders on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend may be the best thing that has happened to Sanders' run for president.

In fact, David was so amazing, I may vote for Sanders in the hopes it means the comedian will return in the future to play President Sanders.

The sketch, which has gone viral, was about last week's Democratic presidential debate. As someone who worked on the production staff at "SNL" from 1999 through the mid-2000s, I can say that it was one of the best political sketches in recent years and David as Sanders was comedy gold.

Sanders knows something others might not get. This "SNL" sketch helps Sanders and even some of his policy positions become better known. And it's likely reaching many people who don't follow politics and know little about Sanders. The senator had a strong debate, with many saying he was the winner and with the latest CNN poll showing that he gained support.

It's unlikely the other candidates depicted in the sketch were as happy with it. For example, Alec Baldwin made a guest appearance on the show playing former Sen. Jim Webb. The sketch effectively used comedy to define Webb accurately as a person who felt terribly slighted by not being able to speak longer at the debate and whose positions are too conservative for today's Democratic Party.

For example, in response to a question about large banks, Sanders stated, "I'm not a fan of the banks." After a Seinfeldesque joke about "why do banks chain up their pens?" he went into a Philbin-type passionate diatribe: "We got to break up the banks into little pieces and then flush the pieces down the toilet so you can never put the banks back together!"

Funny but also consistent with Sanders' policy position of backing a bill to break up the big banks.

[FSogol]

1. Did Tina Fey's imitation of Sarah Palin help her?

While Larry David was funny, Sander's ideas were treated as a joke by SNL. And what about the ending with him happy about a VP position?

[portlander23]

3. Could be

Though I don't think it was a scathing caricature the way Fey's Palin was. It was pretty good natured and really funny. I think the person they were most unfair to was Martin O'Malley. Not only was the O'Malley impression not funny, I don't think it was based on any kernel of truth based on how he acted in the debate. I think the impression was lazy.

[virtualobserver]

5. SNL portrays Hillary as if she is a lunatic......

Last edited Mon Oct 19, 2015, 02:56 PM - Edit history (1)

so I don't think that anyone wins there.

I expected more from O'Malley in the actual debate....

[FSogol]

7. Did you watch the actual debate? O'Malley did a great job.

His concluding statement went over well will a crowd of mostly Sanders/HRC supporters.

His debate performance boosted his fundraising and doubled (heh) his standing in the polls.

[virtualobserver]

10. there was nothing wrong with what he did.

I just expected him to find a way to have more of an impact....your comment on doubling says it all, unfortunately.

It just shows how hard it is to overcome the one-two punch of DNC strategic moves and the conventional wisdom viewpoint of the MSM.

[FSogol]

11. Politics is a long slog. No one is going to jump into first place based on one debate.

Still 4 months to the Iowa caucus.

[FSogol]

8. Agreed. n/t

[portlander23]

9. I agree on that

O'Malley did have one of the better closing statements.

[azmom]

4. It's SNL

[link:

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[azmom]

2. I like it. It's funny, and it will bring more attention to

Bernie. I saw a sign that said the number one reason to vote for Sanders is because he wears briefs in a world of boxers.

[liberal_at_heart]

6. I love good comedy. I don't care who it is about. Hell, Jon Stewart makes fun of both parties and he

is freakin brilliant. I don't think Larry David's impression hurts Bernie Sanders at all. I liked it. I thought it was funny. Whether it helps him, I don't know. It does bring more attention to him, and it lightens the mood which I think brings in more voters. Voters get tired of the negative ads and dirty politics. That turns voters off, but good hearted comedy can bring voters in.

[louis-t]

12. Bill Maher did a segment called 'and now'

or something like that where they had video of Sanders speaking at the debate. "This is what he said" and then "This is what Republicans heard". It might even have been Bernie doing the latter because he was on the show. Hilarious.