Palin’s Appearance on SNL - Did It Help Or Hurt?

Last night, Alaska governor and Republican candidate for vice-president, Sarah Palin, achieved a different kind of celebrity status by appearing on Saturday Night Live (SNL).

The program featured an opening with the real Sarah Palin speaking to executive producer Lorne Michaels and actor Alec Baldwin, while comedian Tina Fey portrayed Palin at a mock press conference, in front of the studio audience. It also featured a rap gig by Amy Poehler on SNL’s mock news show backed up by two eskimos, a faux Todd and a moose.

Palin’s appearance on the popular sketch comedy show brought it to its highest rating in fourteen years, Reuters. The figures make it the highest-rated SNL since March 12, 1994. Although Nielsen Media Research won’t have a complete count of the show’s audience until later in the week, it will likely be around 14 million people — and 17 million for the first half hour, with the opening skit featuring Palin’s cameo.

Clearly, the vice presidential candidate has single-handedly revived the late-night career of actress Tina Fey. If John McCain becomes president, Tina Fey will have plenty of SNL political material for the next four years. But the question arises as to whether Tina Fey or SNL have been able to help boost Palin’s candidacy. People are wondering whether Palin did the right thing for her image by appealing to the public via SNL, or whether in fact this was the wrong thing for the campaign.

Today, Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama, one of his reasons being that Sarah Palin was not qualified to be president of the United States. While this statement was not connected to her SNL performance, one can only wonder if the show is one of the factors that has influenced him.

Whether Palin makes it to the White House or not, one thing is for sure, she has proved herself to be a good sport by joining with America’s top comedians in poking fun at herself. Given McCain’s humorous speech at the Al Smith fundraiser last week, his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman last Friday and all the comedy that ensued from Joe the Plumber, it is refreshing to see the usually serious Republican candidates reach out to America with a sense of humor, something that we could all do with in the days of this battered economy and just two weeks until the election.

What are your thoughts on Palin’s SNL appearance? Did it help or hurt?

Image Credit: LA Times

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