A Democrat’s views on the Republican race for president

Debates and Parodies…

Posted on October 16, 2008. Filed under: Uncategorized |

…they almost go hand-in-hand. And with the election getting down to the wire, it’s time for the gloves to come off.

First, the vice presidential debate, held on Thursday, October 2. Many reporters agreed that neither Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin or Senator of Delaware Joe Biden slipped into stereotypes, which is definitely a good thing. However, many “main-street” people did not see the debate the same way. It seemed as if Sarah Palin was playing her same old “hockey mom, joe 6-pack, maverick” role, while Joe Biden discussed how much he loved John McCain as a person, just not the next president. Both vice presidential candidates did have a few things in common. Both do not approve of gay marriage, although Biden does approve of same sex benefits. Both Biden and Palin have sons in Iraq or sons that are going to Iraq. Both candidates also praised their running mates, Obama and McCain, which is what (I assume) they were told to do.

And now, for the parody. Saturday Night Live’s Tina Fey, Jason Sudeikis, and guest Queen Latifah took on the roles of Sarah Palin, Joe Biden and the moderator, Gwen Ifill. The clip is hilarious, especially with the resembelence of Tina Fey to Sarah Palin. Fey dodged every question and talked about anything else she could think of, as Palin really did in the debate. Sudeikis’ impression is also funny, and Queen Latifah is a riot as Ifill.

A presidential debate also took place recently on Tuesday, October 7 in Nashville, Tennessee. Barack Obama and John McCain both went way over the time allotted to answer questions, but all-in-all it was a good debate. No one really “won” but both looked pretty decent and had answers to the tough questions. What really took everyone’s surprise was what the candidates were doing when not answering the questions. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, on October 8, put an interesting take on the debate, saying that Obama looks like he’s “posing for the cover of a 1960s’ soul album,” while McCain was “wandering the outer regions of the stage.” Stewart does a pretty good job of dissecting the candidates, and also does a pretty spot-on impression of Sarah Palin and John McCain. The entire episode is hilarious, especially with Michelle Obama as a guest, but the debate is covered in the first nine minutes. Jay Leno also wondered what John McCain was doing walking around the stage and joked about it in his opening monologue.

Election season has been pretty amusing so far. If it’s not the parodies or jokes making you laugh, then it’s probably the awful commercials trying to appeal to “Ohioans.” It really makes you wonder how election officials get their information to stereotype us as a state.

Also, in case you’re not paying attention to the media, a CNN map shows that if the election was held today, Obama would win. The race is still a tight one, with several states’ electoral votes up for grabs. Another debate will be held tonight (with many parodies to follow, I’m sure) and it is crucial for McCain to “win” this debate if he wants to have a chance for the presidency.

*Ok, so this may not be about the Republican race for president, but it is some exciting news (for me, at least). On Tuesday, October 14 Barack Obama was in Toledo. And I just happened to be at the Toledo YMCA when he was shooting hoops! Here are several pictures I took.

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